AS A CHAMBER MEMBER, YOU'RE WELL CONNECTED.
AS A CHAMBER MEMBER, YOU'RE WELL CONNECTED.
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The Chessington Business Expo always aims to provide a unique opportunity for our local community to showcase their businesses, network with exhibitors and potential audiences, learn from leading experts in a variety of sectors and join collaborative, thought-provoking workshops.
With this in mind, we’ve been thrilled to hear your fantastic feedback for this year’s programme, as we sought to combine our popular seminar and networking sessions with innovative new advisory zone and roundtable formats.
To celebrate and reflect on these highlights, we’re sharing a full recap of the day (including your experiences at the Expo, in your own words!), so read more below.
Photo Credit: Robyn Harper
Undeterred by the seasonably brisk start to the day, the atrium of Chessington School was a hive of activity as our Kingston Chamber of Commerce team and exhibiting Business Advisors greeted attendees for the commencement of the Chessington Business Expo 2023. Beginning with a much-needed respite for teas, coffee and freshly-baked pastries, the Expo subsequently welcomed Mayor of Kingston Upon Thames, Councillor Diane White, and Kingston Council Chief Executive, Sarah Ireland, who both kindly shared words of encouragement and support to launch the event.
This year’s Expo boasted several exciting new formats and sessions, notably our 13 innovative advisory zones representing 30+ local businesses: Professional Services, Sales & Marketing, Creative, Independent Business, IT/Cyber, Finance & Property, Skills, Green, Premium, KBBA, Wellbeing, Charity, and, Community.
This distinct configuration was designed to create a lively hub for discussion and networking opportunities, enabling attendees and Business Advisors to easily engage and collaborate. We were delighted to see all participants enthusiastically embracing this concept, and to hear the rewarding conversations generated throughout the day as exhibitors showcased their unique business offerings (including the inventive and interactive displays from GRASSify and Tree Bee Rescue )
Photo Credits: Robyn Harper, CEM Bookkeeping & Consultancy Ltd
In addition to the many opportunities to connect with and learn from our exhibiting Business Advisors, the Expo also provided a full programme of topical sessions developed and delivered by industry-leading experts.
Our first seminar, “Making your business communications clear, authentic and impactful”, presented by Martin Booth from LeBoo Media, provided a thought-provoking discussion of how we can build better relationships with employees, colleagues and clients; improve teamwork and collaboration, and; mitigate conflicts by reducing misunderstandings. Sharing practical guidance included in his recently published work, 21 Questions: What You Need To Ask Yourself When You Want To Start And Build A Business, participants were encouraged to take an audience-centric approach to communications, ensuring they understood the needs of their business communities and how they can tailor language to engage audiences more effectively.
Addressing universal challenges and queries surrounding financial management, our following session, delivered by Clare Mannell, from CEM Bookkeeping,and Barclays Bank, explored “How to manage and make your budgets and cashflow work for you”. During this presentation audience members learnt how to control costs, determine a budget and discuss issues with banks while enjoying a sustainable business/lifestyle balance and gaining insights into how to set practical targets. Providing a broad range of financial guidance in clear, jargon-free language, the seminar ensured participants could feel confident when approaching future financial decisions.
Concluding our seminar series was a much-anticipated discussion of AI technologies and digital presences led by Celia Rizothanasi from Queen Bee of LinkedIn. “Smart Connections: Amplifying your Social Media Presence with AI” demystified complexities of AI by offering a guided exploration into how AI can be effectively and ethically harnessed, overcoming key business challenges and significantly uplifting social media marketing efforts. Delving into topics such as the future of AI, benefits of developing prompt engineering skills, and selecting tools and software to fit your needs, this presentation provided an informative overview of how we can embed AI into everyday working practices.
Diverging from our seminar programme, our new roundtable format brought together successful local business leaders from a range of sectors to collaboratively discuss “How to grow, manage and enjoy your business”. Joined by Kathryn Hughes from Kayak PR, Sam Page from 7 Dots, and Monica Bradley from MB Associates, this inspirational and illuminating conversation enabled participants to learn from our speakers’ journeys and pick up some practical tips. Examining complex considerations such as how to define our own professional and personal purpose, identifying and prioritising growth opportunities, and the power of knowledge exchange, audience members were empowered to become leaders both within their own professional fields and wider communities.
Photo Credit: Robyn Harper
There is never a shortage of brilliant discussions had and connections made at our events, so we were delighted to see this continued at this year’s Expo. Our full schedule of events would not have been complete without the engaging and fast-paced speed networking sessions sponsored by Omni Business Development Network, as participants assembled to partake in rapid-fire exchanges with attendees from an array of business sectors. Generating conversations that continue well beyond the duration of this event, speed networking remains a popular feature of the Expo.
Engaging with the local community was a core goal for the Chessington Business Expo, and the Kingston University Hackathon, facilitated by Dr Martha Mador and Amanda Baker, provided attendees with a unique opportunity to contribute to a collaborative workshop exploring universal industry issues. Working together in teams, participants examined and developed new or improved products, services and solutions for current business challenges. This session effectively highlighted perspectives from a range of fields and career-stages, ensuring a broad range of compelling ideas and insights were shared.
From encouraging crucial conversations to supporting the development of the local business community, the Chessington Business Expo 2023 enabled attendees to connect and reflect, and as we conclude this recap, we’d like to again extend our thanks to everyone who supported and attended our event!
We’d also like to express our gratitude for our Headline Sponsors, Kingston Council and Every Child, Every Day Academy Trust for their generous endorsement of the Expo.
While the Chessington Business Expo 2023 has come to an end, there’s still much we can learn from this year’s event – and we want you to join the conversation!
Take part in our brief survey to share your feedback and be in with the chance to win a £50 Bentalls gift voucher.
