This year's Leicester Business Festival - which has Leicester Castle Business School at De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) as its headline partner - will take place between October 29 and November 9, it has been announced.
In 2017, more than 10,000 people attended the festival's 154 events. The event focused on 13 key sectors for the Leicestershire economy and included trade shows, seminars, workshops and award ceremonies. Promotion of the festival reached nearly 31 million people and 88% of those who attended said it positively affected their business. Analysis has also shown that one in four attendees came from outside Leicestershire - with 80 travelling from as far afield as Russia, China, USA, France, Greece and even Ecuador.
Dana Brown, Principal at Leicester Castle Business School said, “The Business Festival has real traction and now clearly has an international presence. It is truly helping to place Leicester firmly on the global map and showcasing the strengths, innovation and diversity of our great city and county and it is creating a real momentum in inward interest, with an array of enquiries from those wanting to hear more about this great area.
“The Festival’s approach and ethos is something which aligns perfectly with the strategic and ambitions aims of Leicester Castle Business School - to promote our city and region to ultimately encourage its economic development for the prosperity of all.
“As the first 'modern' University in the United Kingdom to have a 'ranked' business school, we appreciate the importance of the Business Festival’s positive impact, its potential and we recognise the investment it can bring to the area. So, it’s very important that we continue to be at the heart of and continue to support the biggest business initiative in the region.”
De Montfort University’s Leicester Castle Business School is the 2018 Business Festival Headline Partner, having signed up in 2017 for a three-year term. East Midlands Chamber; the LLEP Business Gateway and East Midlands Airport are also continuing to support the Festival for a further two years.
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Scott Knowles, Chair of the Leicester Business Festival CiC said: “The Business Festival is here to stay and will continue to grow and support the community that it serves. Looking ahead, it already has the backing of Leicester Castle Business School, the LLEP Business Gateway, East Midlands Airport and East Midlands Chamber and is in conversation with many others but, as ever, the more organisations that get involved and support the Festival, the further we can enhance its reach and its impact.
“Each year, we meticulously review all feedback and have looked closely at everything from the number and quality of events, alignment of key sectors to the local strategic economic plan and attendee data. To ensure the Festival continues to achieve its strategic objectives - to drive inwards investment and support the business community in Leicester and Leicestershire – we are making some adjustments for 2018, full details of which will be announced later.
“We opened the new application process on the LBF website on February 12 for those who want to run events in this year’s festival. Based on past experience, we expect applications to come in rapidly. As the number of events will be limited to 125, I would urge everyone to get their applications in as soon as possible. I believe 2018 will be a very good year to be part of the Leicester Business Festival.”
Posted on Thursday 15 February 2018