Hundreds attended the Elite Business Live event in person and virtually to gain insights from the champions who did it themselves. The two-day event kicked off to a fantastic start with hosts Oli Barrett and Hannah Prevett welcoming keynote speakers and panellists including founders, CEOs, managing directors and experts who brought their valuable knowledge and experience about how to build a successful business and take your brand to the next level.
Entrepreneur, author and broadcaster, Michael Hayman, led the commercial business growth talk, speaking about why it is important to have a purpose behind your business and use it as a key driving factor towards spearheading growth. He later joined a panel of speakers including Piers Linney, serial entrepreneur and former BBC’s Dragon Den’s investor, Lara Morgan, founder, investor and entrepreneur, Sophie Milliken, the CEO of Moja Group and Roan Lavery, the co-founder and CEO of FreeAgent. The panel discussed what influences customer loyalty and how to build authentic relationships with customers.
Andrew Stevens, Director of UK Small Business at Vodafone joined spoke on how to propel your business in a data-driven future, and how to adapt to emerging new technology with a positive attitude. He was Luca Schnettler, Founder & CEO of Qumata Group and Ben Law, Vice President and Head of UK & Ireland at GoDaddy in a panel to discuss the various technologies in the market, and how to combine them into your sales model.
Finding the right talent for your business is crucial to your growth. Serial entrepreneur and investor Sherry Coutu CBE discussed the hybrid working model and how businesses can adapt to a flexible working approach. She was joined by an exciting panel, Andy Wilson, Director of New Product Solutions and Dropbox and Naveed Malik, Regional Director of Emea, Channel Partnerships and Monday.Com. The panel touched on hiring the right talent for your company, the importance of diversity and how to adapt to virtual technologies when working in a team.
Adnan Ahmed, Head of Strategy at Starling Bank, held a keynote speech in the financial management talk and was later joined by Phil Hobden, Head of Customer Education and Engagement at Capitalise, Emma Sayle, Founder and CEO of the KK Group, Richard Bearman, Managing Director for the British Business Bank. The panel led an insightful panel discussion to speak about the financial solutions available for businesses and also shared their top tips on finding the right investors ‘ and how to get them to buy into your business.
To round off Day 1, Dr Grace Togun Olugbodi shared her inspiring story about how she catapulted her global education platform, BeGenio, to greater heights. She was later joined by Nick Adams, Vice President at Globalization Partners, Deyan Dimitrov, Founder and CEO at Laundryheap, Brad Sugars, Global Founder at ActionCOACH and Sara French, Director of Trade & Growth at London & Partners, discussing how having boots on the ground is important when expanding your company internationally, and addressed common concerns over trade in the EU in a post-Brexit world.
Day 2 at Elite Business Live begin with a riveting speech by PR guru Sabrina Stocker, who discussed the importance of public relations while sharing her tips on how to get your business featured in the press. Sabrina later joined the commercial business panel, including Flavilla Fongang, founder of 3 Colours Rule, Jackie Fast, Managing Partner at Sandbox Studios, Tim Hyde, CEO and founder at TWH Media and Christina Okoracha, co-founder at VAMP.
Danny Stefanic, CEO of MootUp led the keynote for the digital transformation speech and spoke about the metaverse and how SMEs can use the platform to scale their business. He was later joined by Gavin Mee, Managing Director of Northern Europe of UIPath, Nimisha Brahmbhatt, Managing Director at Quantum Global Consultants, Ketan Makwana, Chairman of Enterprise Lab and Seventy7Ventures for the panel.
Donna Kelly, Senior VP at CGI led the talent and regulation keynote speech, speaking about diversity in the workforce and touched on her incredible career journey. She was later joined by Kate Rowlinson, CEO at MediaCom, Jenny Knighting, CEO and founder of Nutcracker Agency, Rajeeb Dey MBE, founder and CEO at Learnerbly and Simon Crowther, CEO of FPS Group for an exciting discussion about inclusivity in a work environment.
For the financial management talk, Guy Rigby, Chair of Entrepreneurial Services at Smith and Williamson shared the exciting story about how he sailed 3000 miles across the Atlantic ‘ and how he wanted to give something back, raising over £700K for the charity Unltd. He was later joined by Andrew Harding, Chief Executive, of the Management Accounting PUT at the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, Tim Vine, Head of International Finance and Risk Solutions at Dun and Bradstreet, Trusha Lakhani, Business Coach at ActionCOACH and Andrew Collis, Chief Financial Officer at Moneypenny.
Rounding up the exciting two-day event was Jacob Thundil MBE, the Managing Director of CocofinaCoconut, who spoke about his experience in the food industry and the common misconceptions about exporting to international territories. Joining him in the panel discussion was Dr Johnny Paterson, founder of Dr PAWPAW, Sean Flanagan, Operations Director UK and France at Avery.
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