‘New faces and fresh ideas’ for Humber Business Week 2024
‘EXCITING’: Pat Coyle, chair of Humber Business Week
Businesses are being urged to attend an open planning meeting for Humber Business Week 2024 as organisers place a focus on attracting “new faces and fresh ideas” for this year’s week-long event.
It will be the first year under the leadership of experienced marketeer Pat Coyle as chair, who says the steering group – local business figures who volunteer their time to plan and shape the week – has been “re-energized” by a number of new faces.
They are placing a focus on ensuring highly-relevant issues and topics are key themes of this year’s programme, with sustainability, social mobility and justice, culture and creative arts, not-for-profit, technology and also the proposed Hull and East Yorkshire devolution deal all expected to be central to the week.
Already confirmed is that the week will, as ever, be kick-started by ‘Destination Monday’ June 3 – a full day of events held at the MKM Stadium, including the Future Humber Bondholder Breakfast and the popular 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, the founding member Swedish pop supergroup Abba, has already been confirmed as headline speaker.
“It’s exciting to be back and pulling plans together for 2024,” said Mrs Coyle, who has taken over as chair from Kath Lavery, who led Business Week for 14 years.
“We’ve already confirmed the return of some the headline events which the week is best known for, such as the Business Week Breakfast launch and of course The Business Day in Bridlington.
“Our focus now is on building the rest of the programme and helping businesses from across the region and beyond become involved and get the very best from the week. We want to attract businesses of all sizes and kinds, lots of new faces and plenty of fresh ideas.
“We’ve taken on feedback from previous years in which people have said they have perhaps wanted to become involved but have been unsure of how and when to hold events to make them a success.
“That is what this initial meeting later this month will be focussed upon. We’ll be using the first stakeholder group to allow people to come to us with ideas, or just to say they want to be involved and build from there.
NETWORKING: Delegates at a Humber Business Week event last year
“We have a steering group of experienced people who are more than happy to support them, with a number of new faces this year who have re-energized the planning stages already, so I am sure they are going to bring lots of ideas, and hopefully bring new people into Business Week who haven’t been involved before.”
New steering group members include Jamie Lewis and Tessa Wray from charity HEY Smile Foundation, representing the charities and not-for-profit sector, Martin Stead of Loom Consultancy, representing start-up business and entrepreneurs, and Phil Ascough, representing Hull & East Yorkshire Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP).
They will sit alongside existing contributors from ‘Biz Week’s’ media and comms partners Arrival PR and Diony, as well as Hull University, Hull and East Riding councils and Future Humber.
The stakeholder meeting is open to all who are interested and will be held at the MKM Stadium, in the 1904 Suite, on Friday, January 26, from 9am.
Presentations will be given from previous steering group members and event holders, and the process of becoming involved, and how to plan the best time, topic, location and marketing of events will be outlined.
Register for the stakeholder meeting via the Humber Business Week website or here.
