There are now only a few more days left for businesses to submit their applications to host an event in the 2020 Black Country Business Festival.
The Festival closes its doors to new event applications at 5pm on Friday 14 August. Anyone can run an event and it can be about anything so long as it helps other businesses or employees to learn, share or grow. Events can be digital, physical or a mix of the two, where a minimal amount of delegates will be able to attend while the event is live-streamed. A Business Festival digital platform has been created on ‘Zoom’ [digital live streaming platform] to allow event organisers to run their events online.
Already there are nearly 80 events in the Business Festival which is taking place from 5 to 15 October. There is a good mix of physical and digital events which shows that businesses have really adapted to new ways of working. Tickets to events will start to go live on the Business Festival website (www.blackcountrybusinessfestival.com) from 17 August. Events are split into sectors to make it easy to browse and sort and there are so many different topics there is bound to be something for everyone.
Sandwell Council in conjunction with construction company, Balfour Beatty is running a virtual ‘meet the buyer’ event on 8 October, where they will be sharing tips with local supply chains on how to win business on the landmark £267m MMUH healthcare project as well as some of Balfour Beatty’s other regional projects such as the redevelopment of the Black Country Living Museum. In Walsall, the council’s Works, Skills & Jobs Expo on 5 October is an all-day event for businesses and training providers, where there will be details about jobs, apprenticeships and courses for local residents.
Business Festival partner, the University of Wolverhampton is once again holding several excellent events which range from examining the advantages and disadvantages of developing brown field land right through to Intellectual property protection on innovations and the business of cyber protection.
Corin Crane, chief executive of the Black Country Chamber of Commerce, which initiated the BCBF three years ago, said, “There is such great engagement from the business community that the Festival is proving to be a showcase in itself of the positivity and resilience of the Black Country. But there are only a few more days left before the portal closes so any business wishing to be part of this brilliant fortnight needs to get their application in now.
“This is the third year of the Black Country Business Festival and this year is possibly more important to our businesses than ever before, because of the solid platform on which to re-energise and re-engage that it provides.”
The BCBF relies on sponsorship from organisations in the Black Country. The 2020 Festival Partners are: University of Wolverhampton, Talbots Law, Dudley Business First, Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership and the Black Country Growth Hub; sponsors are: Wolverhampton Racecourse, Thomas Dudley, Casino36 and M6toll.
The Festival is also supported by Gecko Programmes, Sandwell Council and Walsall Council with media partners, Elonex, Signal 107 and Metro and app partner, Infonote.
