regional event: Bristol

Regional conferences | Feb 28

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Regional event: Bristol

April 23rd

8:30 am – 2:00 pm

NatWest Accelerator, 2 Trinity Rd, Avon St, Bristol BS2 0PT

Agenda Speakers

Highlighted speakers:

Gus Bhandal Founder, The M Guru

Andrew Bryce Founder & CEO, Sixty Seconds

Ruth Chapman Executive Managing Director, Dulas and Advisor, UK Board of Trade

This event has now ended

Accessing tools and talent for business growth

This event is designed to accelerate your business’s growth by equipping you with practices you can implement to boost your sales, amplify your social media presence, and increase employee engagement.

During this half-day event, you will have the opportunity to listen to:

a masterclass from social media guru, Gus Bhandal. This session will explore the intricacies of social media marketing and how it can increase brand awareness and engagement.
an insightful keynote on AI integration in business. This session will unveil how to leverage AI to build your digital presence and convert leads to sales.
a panel discussion on employee engagement and retention. This panel will explore the strategies you can implement to become an employer of choice and create a productive workforce.

There will also be plenty of opportunities to forge new business connections with your fellow alumni and gain business support from our representatives from NatWest, the Department for Business and Trade, the British Business Bank and Innovate UK.

Agenda

08:30 Doors Open

Breakfast and refreshments will be provided.

09:00 Opening remarks from the conference chair

Dr Paul Bennett, Dean of Partnerships and International, College of Business and Law, UWE Bristol

09:10 conversation café

We will be kickstarting the day with a highly engaging networking exercise. You will be given a set of business-focused questions and encouraged to discuss the answers with your peers. This is your opportunity to share and hear from other business leaders about their journey.

09:30 Keynote address: digital presence on a budget

Andrew Bryce is the founder and CEO of Sixty Seconds, a company at the forefront of revolutionising video marketing and prospecting workflows. With a decade of experience, his work focuses on integrating advanced AI and software tools to enhance how businesses communicate with their audiences. Andrew’s leadership is marked by a commitment to using technology to simplify communication processes, improve storytelling, and optimise engagement strategies for organisations globally.

Key takeaways will include:

How to integrate AI into your marketing strategy.
How to utilise AI to convert leads to sales.
Steps to creating a digital presence on a budget.
How to evolve your business proposition.

Andrew Bryce, Founder & CEO, Sixty Seconds

10:00 Social media masterclass

In this session, Gus will guide you through strategies to optimise your business’s digital marketing channels, enhancing visibility and attracting new customers. Learn how to leverage social media platforms to improve sales and digital presence, whilst saving time and resources.

This masterclass will focus on these key areas:

Setting clear objectives: Learn how to establish measurable goals.
Strategies for achieving your social media marketing goals: Discover the ideal platforms, content nuances, and time allocation for maximum impact.
Customer connection tactics: Learn how to craft compelling content strategies, expand reach, and master inbound/outbound techniques.
Measure success: Learn to track metrics, understand how to distinguish between organic and paid strategies, and ensure your efforts yield results.

Benefit from practical examples, case studies, and engaging activities to ignite your digital marketing journey.

Gus Bhandal, Founder, The M Guru

11:20 mid-morning break

Grab a coffee, make new connections and engage with business support.

11:40 Employee engagement, retention and productivity panel

It has become increasingly difficult to motivate and retain staff. How can you ensure you’re keeping employees engaged without sacrificing productivity?

During this panel discussion, expert practitioners and local business leaders will share tried and tested management tools and techniques that nurture talent development and a feeling of purpose amongst your employees.

Key takeaways will include:

Dos and don’ts when recruiting.
How to build a high-performance culture.
How to establish connection, meaning and trust with your team.
Cost-effective and productive benefits and financial incentives.

Richard Roberts, Culture and Employee Engagement Specialist, enRich

Andrew Woolnough, Consultant

Abbie Burland, Director, Mella Recruitment

Terry Corby, Chairman, CMI South West Board

12:20 keynote address: Changing the world with business support

In this inspiring keynote, Ruth Chapman, Executive Managing Director of Dulas, will share her journey of using business support to overcome challenges in running an SME. She will focus on the company’s growth mission in improving humanitarian aid. Ruth will demonstrate how she utilised loans, knowledge transfer partnerships, and other forms of support to navigate obstacles like cash flow and skill gaps. Be prepared to gain insights into engaging with entities like the Department for Business and Trade and Innovate UK. Use this as an opportunity to learn how to leverage similar support available at the event.

Ruth Chapman, Executive Managing Director, Dulas and Advisor, UK Board of Trade

12:50 Closing remarks from the conference chair

13:00 Lunch, networking and exhibitions

Grab some lunch, make new connections and engage with business support.

Resources

Please find follow up links from the speakers below:

Gus Bhandal slides

Ruth Chapman slides
- B oard of Trade exporter FAQs (Word)

Andrew Bryce slides
- AI Workflow Workshop (expression of interest)

Enquiries

If you have any questions, please get in touch by email at HTGM.Events@smallbusinesscharter.org or contact the Small Business Charter by phone on 020 7634 9584.

Capacity is limited so please register your place as soon as possible.

About our Speakers

Gus Bhandal Founder, The M Guru

Gus Bhandal is the founder of The M Guru, a digital marketing agency that helps businesses grow and succeed through the use of social media. Gus has over twenty years of in-depth marketing experience. Earlier this year, he was named in the Top 100 Marketing Trailblazers list and the Top 30 Marketing Inspirations list.

Richard Roberts Culture and Employee Engagement Specialist, enRich

Richard is a culture and employee engagement specialist with a focus on cultivating motivated teams in startups and larger firms. Richard has helped secure a top 2 ranking in the Sunday Times Top 100 Small Companies in 2020. Richard specialises in building positive cultures and supporting organisations with pragmatic advice on their people issues.

Andrew Woolnough Consultant

Andrew is an accomplished executive with a career characterised by innovation and transformation, consistently delivering groundbreaking solutions and financial well-being strategies, specifically in employee reward, payroll and payments. Andrew’s experience has made a lasting impact on global advisory and benefits firms, earning him the prestigious “Reward Strategy 300” Award.

Abbie Burland Director, Mella Recruitment

Abbie founded Mella to revolutionise recruitment for both businesses and candidates. Abbie’s vision for Mella was to challenge the recruitment norms and to operate differently from traditional agencies. Abbie prioritises tailored strategies, deep client engagement, and long-term relationships, aiming for mutual growth and harmony between employers and employees.

Andrew Bryce Founder & CEO, Sixty Seconds

Andrew is the founder and CEO of Sixty Seconds, a company at the forefront of revolutionising video marketing and prospecting workflows. With a decade of experience, his work focuses on integrating advanced AI and software tools to enhance how businesses communicate and engage with their audiences.

Ruth Chapman Executive Managing Director, Dulas and Advisor, UK Board of Trade

Ruth is the Executive Managing Director of Dulas Ltd., a leading Renewable Energy company in Wales. For over 40 years, they have spearheaded large-scale renewable energy projects in the UK. As the top executive, Ruth oversees company performance, guides strategic direction, and manages daily operations for global success.

Terry Corby Chairman, CMI South West Board

Terry has a career spanning business growth in various capacities. With 20 years in strategy and change management consulting, he’s led transformative programmes at Andersen Consulting, Accenture, KPMG, and The Foundation. Terry also founded successful startups Ryalto, Roborecruiter, and Medefer.

about the Regional Business Support

British business bank

The British Business Bank offers free financial tools and advice. While they do not lend or invest directly, they are experts in small business finance and work with more than 200 partners such as banks and venture capital funds, to help businesses like yours.

Be prepared to:

understand more about the finance options available to you and your business
find finance providers, business support and information available in your region

Department for business and trade

The Department for Business and Trade helps UK SMEs identify and win new sales opportunities in overseas markets. They do this by providing advice, market intelligence and custom-made support to maximise your potential growth whilst minimising risk when selling products or services overseas.

To make the most of this opportunity, we ask that you prepare your “pitch” by developing your export plan using the structure in the following link as a guide – https://www.great.gov.uk/advice/create-an-export-plan/how-to-create-an-export-plan/

innovate uk

Innovate UK is a UK-based innovation agency that aims to drive business innovation and productivity. They provide facilities and a framework of funding, finance and one-to-one support from over 400 innovation specialists and scaleup directors embedded in every UK region and nation.