Town's businesses support each other at inaugural event

Business Matters, organised by Hampshire Chamber of Commerce, attracted dozens of delegates from companies across the town and beyond, who gathered at The Apollo Hotel on Friday to take part in panel discussions, network and gain advice from experts.

Opening the event, which was sponsored by the Basingstoke BID and Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, was entrepreneur Nicola Hartland, who is the chief executive officer of The Data Support Agency.

The inspirational businesswoman spoke about how she set up her Chineham-based company with just a mobile phone, £500 and plenty of determination, after being inspired by an in-flight magazine.

Having taken time away from her career to become a mother, she suddenly realised she missed the buzz of working, and by the end of the flight she had created a business plan in her head, launching her company two weeks later.

“I’m incredibly proud to stand here today and present our journey,” she said, adding: “It’s been incredibly tough and sometimes it’s difficult to make decisions as an entrepreneur to take your business forward.”

Offering three tips to those starting up a business, she said learn from other people’s mistakes, dream big and never give up.

Following her speech, Nicola then led a panel discussion with various people from the local business community, including Basingstoke College of Technology principal Anthony Bravo.

Topics included how to retain staff and how to prevent the best talent from being attracted by higher paid jobs in London.

Addressing the matter of staff retention, Anthony said: “I have this old-fashioned belief that work should be fun. We do things like pizza making and rock climbing, we take a day off and everyone does these things.”

Nicola advised the delegates to only employ people they think are “awesome”, adding: “Sometimes you have to just go with your gut.”

Felicity Edwards, from Destination Basingstoke, suggested business’s direct future employees to the Destination Basingstoke website, saying: “The message about Basingstoke is it’s the quality of life story we are trying to tell, but you can tell it too by giving a simple link on your website to our website where there’s information about what it’s like to live here.”

The entire event was captured visually by graphic recorder Emma Paxton, who created an illustration of the key themes of the day.

She said: “Afterwards I scan it and make it available for sharing so the whole idea is that it helps people connect what they heard at the event with a visual reminder.”

The event was supported by Greenhouse Graphics, Lamb Brooks, Digital House and After the Military, all of which held round table discussions throughout the day, offering expert advice of topics including social media and employment law.

Barry Smith, from Greenhouse Graphics, said: “It’s the first time that people have come together to work together to put on an event to promote Basingstoke and the business community which is exciting. The problem is everyone has been working independently and there’s lots of pressure on businesses so we should all be here to support each other.”

There were also several networking events facilitated by Connecting Biz, during which inspirational stories were shared by local entrepreneurs.

One of those was Jana Green, who set up her own coaching businesses after becoming frustrated with treatment she received for depression.

She said: “I had depression and anxiety and went to psychiatrists and nothing helped so I did it myself by studying lots of different research.”

She now works with clients all over the world, including managers of international companies and even a Miss World contestant.

“My record time is 20 years of depression gone in two hours,” she said, adding: “I have studied DNA, psychology, physics and CBT and I put it all together.”

Lucy Boazman, chief executive officer of the Basingstoke BID, said the event had a unique angle, explaining: “It’s very delegate led. The second panel discussion will be led by delegates who will decide the questions and then the delegates will go on the panel.”

The second panel discussion resulted in a discussion about recruiting women into jobs such as engineering and IT, as well as how businesses and charities can work together.

The afternoon culminated with all the delegates standing in front of the banners they had brought along to display for a celebratory photograph.

Paul Fearon, general manager of the Apollo Hotel, said he was proud to support Business Matters, adding: “It’s all about making Basingstoke businesses stand out and be proud and look out for each other.”

Mark Baulch, from Hampshire Chamber of Commerce, said he was delighted with the success of the first event, adding: “It’s been wonderful to see the energy in the room. It’s clear that people have a passion for business.”