Humber Business Week launch to celebrate 20 years of ‘connecting and inspiring’
CELEBRATION: From left, Samantha Dunion, general manager of the DoubleTree by Hilton, Pat Coyle, chair of Biz Week, and Katia Vasilieva, the hotel’s director of sales
By Rick Lyon, Co-Editor
Humber Business Week is planning a special event this month to launch the programme for its 20th year.
The annual festival of business events returns in the first week of June, and new chair Pat Coyle says time will be taken to reflect on how businesses across the Humber region have made the week such a success.
The week is not backed by any public funding or private sponsorship, and has been driven by businesses themselves over the years, with the vast majority of events staged at no cost to attendees.
“We know our Business Week model is envied in other areas of the country as we’ve managed to support and grow what has become a successful event in the local business calendar each year with no access to major funding or major pots of money,” said Mrs Coyle.
“Humber Business Week was established in 2004 with five events and has been built on the willingness of our business community to come together for the good of the region, and to support one another.
“We’ve had fantastic support from so many businesses and organisations who specifically plan and earmark an event for Business Week. They want it to be part of the week and that has ensured, over the years, that we’ve had some landmark moments.
“We’ve had major announcements of new investment in the region and the week has also often coincided with extensive national media coverage about emerging industries, such as the digital and renewables sectors.
“I am thrilled that as part of the week this year Future Humber will be detailing the new Humber Place Narrative, a new branding and messaging for our region to collectively send out the right messages, drive strategic investment and foster a unified voice of the Humber.
“It is about the collective strength of the Humber region, and that is what Business Week has always been about.”
Humber Business Week emerged from the success of the Yorkshire International Business Convention being staged in Hull two decades ago, brought to the city by local entrepreneur Paul Sewell.
That event focused on attracting big name international speakers, but ‘Biz Week’ soon found a niche in being run by local businesses themselves, for local businesses, overseen by a steering group of volunteers, which Mrs Coyle now chairs.
“Over the years we have built a fantastic Business Week community. We’ve had so many people give up their time to make it what it is today, from the businesses who put on events to the attendees that support them and the many people over the years who have given hours of their time as part of the steering group,” said Mrs Coyle.
Mr Sewell said: “I’m proud that the first week in June has become established as a week where those who are interested can concentrate on business.
“It’s an inspirational week with exceptional people. We promote it and celebrate it together and we are doing that to fly the flag for business in the region.”
PROUD: Paul Sewell at Humber Business Week
Mrs Coyle says it is apt that Humber Business Week celebrates its milestone 20th year as many more local companies also mark significant anniversaries.
“It’s amazing when you look at how many businesses and organisations are celebrating milestone years in 2024,” she said.
“We’ve got Andrew Jackson Solicitors, who have always been big supporters of the week, celebrating 150 years, Smailes Goldie Group reaching 125 years, KCOM, a business which is massively engrained in the region’s heritage, reaching 120 years, and also of course Hull City AFC, a business which of course takes the city’s brand worldwide, at 120 years.
“In addition, Bondholders are 30-years-old this year and Hull University Business School is celebrating its 25th birthday.”
Humber Business Week 2024 will be officially launched at The Lexington Rooftop Bar and Terrace in Hull, between 5pm-6.30pm on Thursday, April 18.
The event is open to all and spaces can be booked on the Humber Business Week website.
This year’s event will place a focus on highly relevant issues and topics affecting local businesses, including place, sustainability, social mobility and justice, creative arts, technology and the planned Hull and East Yorkshire devolution.
Already confirmed is that the week will, as ever, be kick-started by Destination Monday on June 3 – a full day of events held at the MKM Stadium, including the Future Humber Breakfast and the Humber Business Week Lunch.
The Business Day, at Bridlington Spa, will again provide the week’s big finale on Friday, June 7, for which Björn Ulvaeus, a founding member Swedish pop supergroup Abba, has already been confirmed as headline speaker.