T
he Entrepreneur Country community has now grown to over 35,000 entrepreneurs and SMEs and the Accelerate Forum marked a crucial opportunity for the UK’s
growing businesses and startups to discuss,
debate and network around the key theme of accelerating business growth and revenue. At a time when the economy is continuing to stagnate, entrepreneurs and small businesses are increasingly being viewed as the future engine of growth in the UK economy. Never before has the voice of entrepreneurs been so critical.
A dozen of the UK’s most successful business builders, including Lloyd Dorfman, Martyn Dawes, Julie Meyer, Austin Healey, Tim Levene, Tim Leeson, Kevin Godlington, Will King and James Caan shared their insights and views on growing businesses during tough economic times. Whilst hardwork and strong teams were a recurrent theme so were lessons around market opportunity, disruptive business models, perseverance in the face of adversity and leveraging technology, network and talent to develop powerful and compelling brands.
The speakers and delegates were joined by
industry experts including the likes of IBM, Crowell and Moring, Microsoft, Smith & Williamson, AVG, Nabarro and Barclays Business. Debates ranged covered pressing issues including the importance of cloud computing and new technologies to small business and the complexities of securing investment during times when lenders are more risk averse than ever.
A major aspect of the day was interactivity with over 2000 tweets posted by 220 individuals and businesses. There was no shortage of interaction between the audience and those presenting. Mobile communication giant Orange, a key supporter and information provider for small businesses added to the day by ensuring all attendees had iTouch voting pads to give their views to a range of topical issues including the 50p rate of tax and the performance of political leaders. Not only did the interactive voting enable direct questions and feedback from the audience it also aided networking.
The twitter feed was particularly popular during the ‘Dragon’s Den’ style pitches delivered by EuroTRX, EyeSee360, BetCafe, Wonder Sale, Plus Trading Solutions and LabelSneak. Delegates tweeted throughout the pitches, offering their opinions on the products and presentations, sharing not only
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