Image caption: 11th February 2020 NPIF breakfast seminar, Ferens Art Gallery, Hull. NPIF breakfast seminar, Ferens Art Gallery, Hull. Pictured left to right: Ben Ormsby, Christina Colmer McHugh (Co-founder of Moodbeam), Ken Cooper (MD of British Business Park), Jan Brumby (For Entrepreneurs Only), James Cook (MD of Tevalis) and Phil Glover (Business Development Manager at the Humber Local Enterprise Partnership).
26th February 2020
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The Humber is the UK’s best kept business secret according to attendees at a recent breakfast event held in partnership with the BusinessDesk entitled ‘Unlocking the Humber’s Potential.’
The seminar held at the Ferens Art Gallery in Hull saw a panel of business leaders, come together with representatives from the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund and the Humber Local Enterprise Partnership to look at the competitive advantages and challenges the location can provide for enterprise.
The event is part of a series of seminars taking place across the North of the country.
Those taking part in the discussion were:
Ken Cooper – Managing Director, Venture Solutions, British Business Bank
Jan Brumby – Chief Executive, For Entrepreneurs Only
James Cook – Managing Director, Tevalis
Christina Colmer McHugh – Co-Founder and Director, Moodbeam
Phil Glover – Business Development Manager, Humber Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP)
The discussion was chaired by Ben Ormsby, Editor at the BusinessDesk.
Opening the conversations, Ken Cooper, provided the background information on how the the British Business Bank through the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund is supporting business growth in the Humber. He highlighted that to date the fund has invested £7.7 million into firms across Humber and outlined an ambition to do even more.
The panel discussion then moved to look at why the Humber is such a fantastic location for businesses to start up, scale up and succeed.
Christina Colmer McHugh, whose business Moodbeam has recently been taking America by storm at Commercial Electronics Show (CES) 2020 in Las Vegas, spoke about how being located in the Humber has helped it to thrive. She cited the support systems that exist from the LEP to networking groups such as For Entrepreneurs Only and the existing business ecosystem that includes firms with over a century of history.
For Jan Brumby, CEO of member network For Entrepreneurs Only, which supports businesses across the Humber and was born in the region, its biggest advantage is that is a “good place for someone to shine” no matter what your background. This transformation in thinking she believes is a positive result of young people who come to the region every year to study and interact with the wider community.
At the close of the event, one thing was clear to everyone in attendance. There is no silver bullet to unlock the Humber’s potential. In fact the process has already begun thanks to the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund and the proactive business community. But there is still more to do and it is a collective responsibility for everyone to highlight nationally and internationally that the Humber is not just a place open for business but a place where businesses can boom.
The next event in the series will take place at Chester racecourse on 11 March;
Click here to book your place
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