More than 200 members of the North East business and entrepreneurial community were challenged to help revitalise the economy, when the Entrepreneurs' Forum hosted its Global Entrepreneurship Week conference, 'Fortune Favours the Brave'.
Held at The Grand Marquee at Wynyard Hall and sponsored by Recognition PR, the conference, the Forum’s final one before the UK officially begins its withdrawal from the European Union, emphasised the important role that business will have in a post-Brexit world.
Chris Hulatt, who co-founded investment firm Octopus Group, implored business leaders in attendance to ’embrace, rather than fight change’ while echoing the importance of maintaining a strong brand in order to grow and ‘change the world’.
Chris has overseen Octopus’ growth from an investment company, which has helped put more than £8.3bn into the UK economy, to a multi-faceted organisation.
He said: “Entrepreneurs will be the ones who are going to be the driving force of revitalising the economy. “Your values need to be memorable as the success of your company is going to be down to your people, who should never be compromised. Trust your instincts and gut feelings; one of the worst things is to be paralysed by decision-making.” Chris added: “No-one wants to sit down with their grandchildren and talk about how much money they’ve made, but what their money helped to achieve.”
Bob Keiller CBE, the former chief executive of Wood Group and owner of entrepreneurial consultancy AB15, gave an inspiring presentation on utilising effective storytelling into business practices, such as during pitches and when giving presentations.
Bob said: “The heart of leadership is all about communication it’s taken me a long time to realise that the key to communication is storytelling. If you can harness it, it’s like rocket fuel and can make a huge difference. “Get your story right, and people will remember it.”
The day’s introductory session, chaired by Graham Robb, senior partner of Recognition PR, drew on effective finance strategies that have supported three regional businesses’ potential and growth. Nigel Mills CBE, chairman of The Lakes Distillery, Kevin Brown, group managing director of home services firm Pacifica Group, and Rob Mathieson, who founded technology company ION Industries, all spoke about their own distinct business growth journeys.
Mark Inglis, the first double amputee to have summited Mount Everest, delivered, undoubtedly, the conference’s most inspirational presentation. He recalled spending 13 and a half days at the summit of Mount Cook, due to a blizzard, which resulted in the loss of his legs below the knee, while also winning Paralympic Silver the first New Zealand Olympian to win a medal in cycling.
He has since gone on to become a renowned winemaker, motivator and founder of charity, Limb 4 Life.
Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen and Tamara Roberts, CEO of sparkling wine company Ridgeview, rounded off a successful conference.
Mr Houchen outlined his ongoing work to build a strong local economy across the region, as well as the creation of an Access to Finance Fund to provide capital investment for SMEs, while Tamara talked about how her family-run business has grown to produce nearly 300,000 bottles of sparkling wine each year, while exporting to 12 countries.
James Robson MBE, chairman of the Entrepreneurs’ Forum, said: “Our line-up of inspirational speakers and personalities has given our members plenty of advice and invaluable ideas that they can take inspiration from.
“Our conferences are at the heart of stimulating effective peer-to-peer learning among our membership and 200-strong guests, who are the people creating the jobs, driving growth and strengthening our regional economy.”
Hosted by BBC presenter and journalist Charlie Charlton, Fortune Favours the Brave is one of the highlights of the Forum’s extensive calendar of events, which brings together more than 200 leading entrepreneurs for a day of peer-to-peer learning. For further information about future Entrepreneurs’ Forum events, visit entrepreneursforum.net/events or you can call 0191 500 7780.
