The British Business Bank has been confirmed as a sponsor of the Kent and Medway Business Summit for a second year.
The bank joins headline sponsors Kreston Reeves and Thomson Snell & Passmore in supporting the fifth annual summit which will take place on Wednesday 27 April 2022 at Sibson, the home of Kent Business School at the University of Kent in Canterbury.
A flagship event in the Kent business calendar, the summit moved from its regular place in January as a one-off measure in response to guidance on limiting the Omicron variant.
Susan Elliott, Senior Manager for the UK Network (South East) at the British Business Bank said: “We are delighted to be supporting the Kent & Medway Summit again for 2022.
We are really looking forward to meeting visitors to the event, both in person and online, and helping smaller businesses looking to start up, grow, understand their options and access the finance they need to succeed.”
Dean of Kent Business School, Prof Marian Garcia, said:
“We warmly welcome the support of the British Business Bank for a second year.
The bank is an important partner in driving economic growth and in the journey to net zero which is a central theme of the Summit and of crucial importance for our region.”
As the UK government’s economic development bank, the British Business Bank has a mission to drive sustainable growth and prosperity across the UK, and to enable the transition to a net zero economy, by improving access to finance for smaller businesses.
The bank will be hosting a panel discussion on finance for the move to net zero as part of the Summit. Panel members will include Warren Ralls, MD of UK Network.
The Summit is a combination of up-to-the-minute economic and regional updates on key projects, collaborative workshops on important business issues, keynote speakers and panel discussions.
Presenters will include the Leader of Kent County Council, Cllr Roger Gough, and Deputy Chief Executive of Medway Council and Director of Place, Richard Hicks.
Interactive collaborative workshops will allow debate on important business topics including productivity, place-making and skills, contributing to a route map for the region’s future.
- Placemaking: Realising the potential of our cultural and creative industries – including speakers from the Creative Estuary, Turner Contemporary and Kent Cricket.
- Productivity: How to build resilience and increase productivity in SMEs – Including speakers from KCC on international trade and Bal Sandher, Managing Director of Medway Based Hectic Lifestyles.
- Skills: The future of work: skilling and retaining talent within the region – featuring research from one of the University of Kent’s signature themes, Future Human and speakers including Principle of Canterbury College, Victoria Copp-Crawley and Gillian Monk JP, Managing Director, All Health Matters.
- Sustainable innovation: A route map to a sustainable Kent and Medway – including inspiring case studies from Kent-based company Elvis and Kresse.
To register for the Summit, please click here