The Long Eaton Hub, a new business centre located in the heart of Long Eaton town centre, just off M1 J25, held its first networking/b2b evening on 30th June in conjunction with NatWest bank. As a new business, the Hub’s first topic was well-chosen, focussing on how technology can support business growth. The Hub is an incubator for new businesses as well as providing a space for more established businesses. The Hub offers a comfortable business lounge with WiFi and co-worker space, training/boardroom, ad-hoc meeting rooms rentable by the hour and fully serviced offices and virtual office packages.
Nearly 40 people attended the two short presentations. The presenters were John Morley, Director at www.i-sourcer.com, and Ash Gangotra, Business Director at www.cloudworks.co.uk. John’s presentation was about how social media can drive brand awareness and customer relations.
Andrew Atkinson, Relationship Manager at NatWest Bank, Long Eaton said ‘the presentation was highly engaging, humorous and thought-provoking in terms of how we present ourselves and our business through LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. It was fascinating to hear about these media and how businesses can grow through capitalising upon these powerful tools’.
Ash’s presentation gave the audience food for thought on how cloud computing is currently impacting upon our daily lives together with the opportunities that it’s bringing on how we do business. Ash offered case studies on Nike and Netflix and showed how these businesses have adapted and grown by embracing the Cloud. Ash explained how the Cloud can be harnessed for the benefit of SMEs. Ash also talked about the benefits of Office365 and how people can work more effectively with this software to drive efficiency and support better communication.
Chris Gueffier, Business Adviser at NBV Enterprise Solutions Ltd said ‘I’m amazed at the extent to which Cloud computing is impacting upon our everyday lives and the fantastic opportunities that it presents for business.’
Trish Clay, Owner at Bitesizetelephonetraining said ’What I’ve heard tonight will fundamentally change my thinking on how I will need to be connecting with clients both now and in the future!’
Pete Carr, Bank Manager at RBS/Future Williams and Glynn’s (Long Eaton) said ‘This is a great venue for training and networking events and is a real asset to the business community. The speakers were excellent and this event brought together businesses not just from Long Eaton, but from Derby, Nottingham, and Leicester. I look forward to future events here.’
The Hub will be hosting monthly events starting in September with a wine tasting event in conjunction with Treetops Hospice on 15 September. If you are interested in subsequent events then why not follow the Hub on Twitter and/or Facebook