Main Sponsor
Love Business 2019 was the eighth Expo and was held at Holywell Park Conference Centre, Loughborough on Wednesday 27th February. If you missed it, are thinking about getting involved in future expo's or simply want to refresh your memory on what was on or who was there - you're at the right page.
We’ve received so much great feedback via email and social media, it’s really overwhelming - so thank you, we couldn’t have done it without you!
Love Business appreciates that attending EXPO’s and spending time out of the workplace is becoming increasingly difficult. So we design the day so that everyone participating enjoys the experience whether you pop in for an hour or stay for longer. Most importantly, every Love Business Expo is designed so you can to take something away to help your business or organisation thrive.
There was so much going on at Love Business 2019, hear what the delegates, exhibitors and sponsors had to say about it.
"Thanks for staging the Expo here in Loughborough. We were very pleased with footfall to our stand which led to a number of interesting enquiries. It was also a very good event for networking with both existing and new contacts."
Christopher Grace
Charnwood Borough Council
"If a certain beer company did business events, they'd do it like this. It was a really fun day and what I enjoyed most, apart from the fun games was the lovely welcome that I received from the people I spoke to. No hard sell, no pushy sales, just lots of information, lots of ways to collaborate and lots of ways to support businesses going forward. It was a really great event, Thank You"
Mandy Ward
Mandy Ward HR Consulting and Coaching
There were fantastic speakers and workshops
Bringing the region's most influential names to inspire, inform and motivate you through sharing their success secrets and insights.
Our keynote speakers are leading business influencers and through their business acumen and extensive experience, empowered and energised the audiences. Sharing knowledge and inspiration to help businesses indentify their opportunities for growth.
Paul Rowlett, Founder of Everything Branded
Paul Rowlett, Founder of Everything Branded, gave the audience his heartfelt story of his experiences and struggles when he started his business, 'Charles Alexander Distribution' - letting the audience in on his learnings along the way - taking it from zero to a £20m turnover company.
Ex-Navy serviceman Paul was out of work and on benefits with a repossession order on his home, and explained how his journey took him from 'Benefits to the Boardroom' - starting his business from a spare bedroom, using a loan from a friend and a free laptop that came with a mobile phone contract, Paul is now CEO of one of the fastest growing businesses in the East Midlands.
Paul generously shared the lessons he'd learnt in building his flagship online brand, EverythingBranded.co.uk – and candidly explained how in just seven years, Everything Branded became a respected member of the BPMA with five-star ratings and reviews from Google and TrustPilot. Paul's hunger for growth made him look at trading outside the UK. He shared his experience and ambition for growing a worldwide client base, and how he came to open an office in Las Vegas.
Paul is very driven, passionate about his business which now trades across the USA , Canada and Australia - and he is well on the way to achieving his goal of taking his online business to $100m by early 2021.
Watch Everything Branded's After Video Here...
"Truly inspirational talk with lots of practical takeaways, I came to hear Paul Rowlett speak because I believe there is always lots you can learn from different peoples experiences - and I wasn't wrong. I left buzzing with ideas."
Craig Sparrow
Business Development Manager at S & L Personnel Ltd
Grant Peggie and panel of advisors from the British Business Bank
Grant Peggie and panel of advisors from the British Business Bank - it made access to finance understandable and provided some great examples of how this Government funded initiative has supported a wide variety of businesses.
This seminar was ideal for SME's looking at funding options, with an audience packed of accountants and other intermediaries gathering information to help advise their clients. Grant and the panel gave a background on the funding available and what fund managers are looking for to ensure a successful application.
The British Business Bank - 100% Government owned along with Grant and the panel explained the key elements to getting the best finance deal whether you are a start-up, want to scale-up or simply stay ahead. Each of the MEIF fund managers gave a short synopsis on their respective funds, covering both debt and equity funding. Explaining their experiences and challenges whilst going through the investment process with SME's.
“Many congratulations on a great event today. Well done!
Thanks for letting us be part of it!”
Lewis Stringer
Senior Manager at British Business Bank
The East Midlands Chamber Question Time Event
The East Midlands Chamber Question Time Event - The Love Business ethos is to focus on what can be done, rather than waste energy on what we have no control over. The panelists were selected because of their resources or specialism, and their position means they have a greater insight into the challenges, options and solutions brought about by Brexit.
What was most engaging was the developments at the East Midlands Gateway, around J23a and J24, and the huge opportunities it presents for businesses in the region. A huge success, next time we do something like this it obviously needs more time. Really engaging, a terrific insight into the next few years of this exciting region. Chris Hobson, superb job hosting, all I can say is watch out Fiona Bruce!
This session was so packed with information, it's got it's own write-up -
find out more.
"Just wanted to drop a note to say thank you for inviting us to yesterdays event, it was really good to attend!
We had a few really interesting conversations and thought that question time was very inciteful."
Thank you,
Jessica Harvey
Acorn Recyclers
Andy Gilbert, Managing Director of Go MAD Thinking
Andy Gilbert, Managing Director of Go MAD Thinking explained how to 'systematically out think' your competition. Andy shared the Go M.A.D.® Results Framework and solution focused thinking methodology.
Andy explained that asking yourself the right questions enables you to accelerate results and improve your productivity. This has resulted in greater efficiencies and productivity increases of up to 427% in just one year for some clients. The Go M.A.D.® Results Framework can be used to increase sales, reduce costs, save time, improve performance and help you develop as a leader to engage others in contributing to business success.
It helps organisations improve their productivity and effectiveness by transforming the way people think and engage in the workplace. It’s no secret all at Love Business are big fans and his framework underpins how we design the Love Business Expo's. Great talk, so much energy I’m not sure he breathed for the 20 minutes!
"As a manufacturing company, productivity is always a key focus area. I was interested to understand how 'thinking' would play a part within this. I didn't expect the fast pace and deck of cards. It was a really enjoyable talk from Andy, and on the drive home it played back in my head and it's really got me thinking about what we need to do differently. Which I suppose was the point - thanks for the great talk Andy! "
Anna Mann
EDS
Richard Shakespeare - Workplace Diversity Solutions
Richard Shakespeare - Workplace Diversity Solutions, well I didn’t realise how funny Richard was - he’d give any stand-up a run for their money. But more than anything he highlighted the serious message to business owners, you need to be able to evidence you practice Work Place Diversity - or expect to pay the consequences.
This workshop format presentation was designed to enlighten every business owner on the sensitive area of ‘diversity’ - so whether it’s sexual orientation, race or disability - it provided the audience with the basic ‘do’s and don'ts’. More importantly, it helped the audience understand and interpret the law and the potential consequences in an age of increasing litigation.
I just want to say what a great talk Richard Shakespeare gave at Love Business, and how refreshing to be told what to do, how to engage and most importantly how to prepare. AIM Awards has always offered a diverse and inclusive place to work, however I still found practical takeaways from the session. Richard was a really engaging speaker and I’ve already downloaded his free guides. Thank you.
Linda Wyatt
AIM Awards
and finally…
The Marketing, PR and Sales workshop
The Marketing, PR and Sales workshop where I (Steve Megson, MD of Quiet Storm), shared the stage for a relaxed session highlighting the things any business owner can use to promote their business or organisation on a shoe string budget. Many thanks to my fellow panelists for sharing their experiences; Nigel Rowlson of The Dairy; Dawn Spendlove from Love Marketing; and Gemma Orton, Mocha Marketing. Not forgetting David Pearson, Director of Partnerships and Membership Services at East Midlands Chamber.
I am writing to say Thank you and Congratulations on organising such a successful Event!
Many of the visitors to our stand shared similar views around the high quality, the energy and excitement during Love Business Expo this year!
Everyone from PAB truly appreciated it and it was a great way to network, present and showcase some of the most successful businesses in the East Middlands.
All the speakers were very inspiring and it was interesting to learn some success stories. We could not agree more with some of the Panel speakers that all the counties within the Midlands should collaborate and look for ways to maximise synergy of working together.
I truly believe that the energy and excitement of the day will generate fresh ways of thinking about what else is possible in the business including trading across borders, cultures and languages.
Kind regards
Iwona Lebiedowicz
Director
PAB LANGUAGE & SEMA4PAB
A BIG THANK YOU to our 2019 sponsors - You provide the financial support to make it happen!
East Midlands Chamber - Main Sponsor and a huge supporter of Love Business for many years now.
Everything Branded - Halls sponsor and general fun ambassadors of this years expo (never seen so many smiling delegates with prizes)!
Duncan and Toplis - VIP Lounge Sponsor and did a great job of looking after everyone who needed to escape the hustle and bustle of the Expo.
Lexus - Love Business Driving sponsor and a great show of the fabulous Lexus range and enlightening business owners on the tax advantages of the hybrid.
KUKU Connect - Networking Reception Sponsor and providing the afternoon glamour and a place for all those working hard all day to chill in the final hours.
fsb - Cafe Networking Hub Sponsor, thanks for getting back onboard with Love Business and hosting the breakfast networking.
IoD, AIM Awards, PAB Languages, Mocha Marketing and Holywell Park - Without your fantastic support in promoting the event and evangelising, it couldn’t have been the success we all enjoyed yesterday.
