The most influential minds in UK’s entrepreneurial world such as founder of YO! Sushi Simon Woodroffe, UK’s Leading Figure in Influencer Marketing Ben Jeffries, UK’S TOP 20 Entrepreneurs in 2017 Liam Hackett and even Top Gear Original Stig, now Renowned Investor, Perry McCarthy will all take the stage. We sat down with the Marketing Director for The Business Show, Hassan Allan, to get insights into the event and its future.
First of all, what can you tell us about The Business Show?
The Business Show is a hall-of-fame event in the UK market and it’s a necessity in order to bring SME owners and startup owners all in one place in order to take their businesses to the next level. It has been running for 19 years and each year we continue to evolve and do something different for both our exhibitors and audiences. The amount of success stories we ve had so far from both visitors and exhibitors is quite incredible and the reason we love doing what we do!
How do you manage to run such a successful show and have tickets completely free of charge
Exactly as you said, The Business Show has always been free-to-attend and to this day is what makes it so successful. The fact that tickets are free means we get a huge attendance which in turn generates more ROI for our exhibitors.
How long does it take to convince someone like Simon Woodroffe to be a keynote speaker?
This is one of the main struggles when organising business events, but at the same time why I love it so much. We have to be persistent and make each keynote understand the benefits of speaking at The Business Show. Some do it for their own personal gain, others truly just want to share their knowledge and inspire the next wave of entrepreneurs. The speakers do have very busy schedules and you have to book them months prior to the event. However, from personal experience, after you establish a relationship with them, it’s easier, but definitely challenging until you reach that point.
How difficult is it financially to organise such an event and how are you positioned on the UK business events market?
PRYSM Group, the company behind The Business Show brand, is one of the fastest-growing and most progressive exhibition organisers in the world. We remain independent and have spent the last 19 years running more than 30 of Europe’s leading B2B trade events across the UK.
Year on year we grow as an organisation as our events establish themselves as market leaders in their various sectors., Our well-run and well-attended exhibitions range from The Business Show – which attracts over 25,000 businesses – to sector-specific events such as Legalex, Restaurant Tech Live and Elite Sports Expo to name just a few.
What were the results of the last editions of the show?
All the events were packed and to our delight, people left with their expectations exceeded. We know this because we we had a great take-up on stands for our 2018 event and this is down to our visitors being well educated, understanding what they need to grow their business and going out on the show floor and acting on it.
How would you characterise this year’s event” What are your feelings and impressions?
There is a continuous hunger for being inspired nowadays. People love the feeling of being inspired and that’s what we thrive to do each year. When we choose the keynote speakers, we have the mindset that every business owner or future entrepreneur who attends The Business Show will leave with at least that one golden nugget of information that will change their business for the better.
What are your plans and expectations for the event happening on the 16 & 17 of May?
We expect over 25,000 visitors and all of them will have the chance to meet in person some of the UK’s brightest and most successful entrepreneurs. Simon Woodroffe, Liam Hackett, Ben Jeffries and The Original Stig are just a few of the names that we are blessed to have at this years event. Just to get a taste, for the May 2018 event we expect to have 250 seminars, 350 exhibitors, 170 interactive masterclass sessions, networking and funding opportunities and to top it all off, Google Digital Garage and Facebook will make a return with a special keynote seminar.
What can the exhibitors expect different for the future
This year we created a floorplan in which all exhibitors, regardless of what they sell, are identifiable to our visitors, but still able to be located at prime positions on the floor plan. Last year we had specific zones with themed content and exhibitors. We are still continuing to have themed seminar halls so the content is easily accessible to our visitors, but our exhibitors will benefit further from the increased ROI from better locations.
Any last things you want to share with our audience
16 & 17th of May, ExCeL London. Get your free ticket here.
