OVER 250 attendees explored the innovation and potential amongst the county’s business community at the first ever Ambitious Essex Business Summit.

Hosted at Hylands House in Chelmsford, the event united over 175 Essex businesses and organisations under the themes of grow, innovate and connect.

Councillor Tony Ball, Essex County Council Cabinet Member for Education Excellence, Lifelong Learning and Employability, welcomed guests to the event, before handing over to Paralympian and Essex business owner Danny Crates.

Danny shared his Paralympic story and first-hand experience as the owner of a Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) in Essex.

He was joined by fellow speakers Bolaji Sofoluwe, Founder and MD of ETK Group, and Freddie Fford, Founder of Patch.

Former Secretary of State for Education and Chair of the Purpose Coalition, the Rt Hon. Justine Greening, hosted a Q&A panel session and closing address to conclude the day. In it, she called on Essex businesses to continue to build on their relationship with Essex County Council.

Attendees were also invited to attend a number of free workshop sessions, exploring key themes such as business funding and growth for SMEs.

The event boasted seven hands-on themed exhibition zones for attendees to explore. These were created as a collaboration between Essex County Council teams and local businesses.

Themes included:

innovation
sustainability
food and drink
business support
skills and inclusive employment
female founded businesses
Attendees could sample local handcrafted chocolate, discover the power of robotics, and find out how to make inclusive employment work for them.

The summit also celebrated the efforts of the council in engaging the local business community. Over 300 registrations were obtained through the council’s Ambitious Essex channels.

Councillor Louise McKinlay, Cabinet Member for Communities, Economic Growth and Prosperity said “The Ambitious Essex Business Summit has truly showcased the innovative and collaborative nature of the Essex business community.

“Bringing together over 175 local businesses and organisations under one roof, we have seen first-hand the opportunities to grow, innovate and connect across our business community in Essex.

“Essex is already a great place to do business, but as a council we are determined to ensure our business community reaches its full potential.”

Councillor Tony Ball, Cabinet Member for Education Excellence, Lifelong Learning and Employability, said: “It was fantastic to see so many different organisations come together at the first ever Ambitious Essex Business Summit to build connections, learn and share ideas.

“The right skills are essential to the success and growth of the business community in Essex. At the event, we were able to engage with businesses directly and learn from them what they want to see in Essex, while also signposting them to support which is already available.”

Keep up to date with future Ambitious Essex events at www.linkedin.com/company/ambitiousessex.