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Lead Participant: Sam Holliday, Development Manager, FSB

Having spent over 25 years in the regional media – 15 of which was as an editor and director at amazing newspaper groups in the Midlands (Tamworth) and the South West (Bath) – Sam became a Development Manager for Britain’s biggest and most successful business representation group the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) in March 2013.

Sam works to help and support the thousands of FSB members who run small businesses, are self-employed or have that entrepreneurial spirit throughout the Gloucestershire and the West of England area.

Event: 

The future of our High Streets has been the subject of debate for many years. However, that debate has never been more urgent with the pandemic potentially changing everybody’s shopping habits forever. So, can the high streets fight back or will they need to fully change to ensure their survival?

Sam Holliday from FSB Gloucestershire and the West of England, will host a discussion with experts on this issue looking at, for example, how a hybrid approach could see digital and traditional retail work together to keep shops alive and how non-retail developments – such as the University campus replacing Debenhams in Gloucester – could bring new life to town centres and create more opportunities for independent outlets.

We are all interested in our local community so this event is not just for retailers or would-be retailers – it is for anyone who cares about the role our high street plays for local communities, local businesses and the local economy.

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Lead Participant: Steve Gardner-Collins, Director Visit Gloucestershire
Other Participants: Roger Mackrill, Director, Sabre UK Ltd

Steve is an experienced and highly motivated tourism & hospitality Sales Director with the drive, passion and enthusiasm to inspire and lead others.

He enjoys leading a sales culture throughout business and is a marketer with experience across design, digital and social platforms in multifaceted environments in local, domestic and international markets.

Steve describes himself as an Organiser, a team player and a champion for well-being, diversity and inclusivity.

Event:

As the Visitor Economy starts to open up following a very troubled 2020 into 2021, we ask ourselves what the international opportunities might be that we can take advantage of?

Our partners from Visit Gloucestershire and Sabre UK Ltd Host a panel from the Gloucestershire Visitor Economy and wider to explore opportunities to grow the sector not only within the UK but in a wider context as well.

As we plan for recovery and growth in the visitor economy following Brexit & Covid, what part does international trade play from sports, through the Arts to education and Uk Vacations?

Gloucestershire is host to international sport events, premium and internationally recognised education and the Cotswolds are a magnet for foreign visitors.  How do those sectors interrelate?

We’re looking forward to a good discussion and some innovative thinking.

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Lead Participant: Steve Gardner-Collins, Director Visit Gloucestershire

Steve is an experienced and highly motivated tourism & hospitality Sales Director with the drive, passion and enthusiasm to inspire and lead others.

He enjoys leading a sales culture throughout business and is a marketer with experience across design, digital and social platforms in multifaceted environments in local, domestic and international markets.

Steve describes himself as an Organiser, a team player and a champion for well-being, diversity and inclusivity.

Event:

As the visitor economy starts opening back up in 2021, what part does it play in the response to the climate emergency?

Gloucestershire Hosts some great visitor attractions, events and is centred in the Cotswolds with Areas of outstanding Natural Beauty, significant waterways, significant forests and woodlands and a rural landscape that covers in excess of 80% of the land.

How does the much needed recovery in the visitor economy fit in with the stewardship of the natural world and the environmental challenges created by the impending climate emergency?

International and domestic  travel, preservation of wildlife environments and challenges created by temporary events and infrastructure all contribute to climate problems, so how do we manage our priorities and what is the right balance?

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Lead Participant: Sandra Baer, CEO, Personal Cities

Sandra Baer is the CEO of Personal Cities based in Washington DC

She is focused on building trusted relationships, creating new collaborations, and uncovering the skills to navigate bigger, bolder city transformations. Personal Cities works to inspire cities to make better, faster decisions around innovation, to enrich and improve their identity and to create a sense of belonging in every community.

Event:

What role should the business community play in addressing mental health in the workplace?

A facilitated discussion will follow the Question Storming event. We will tackle the most revealing questions and expand the dialogue toward potential solutions.

With complex issues, enduring solutions will require more time, conversation, analysis and work. However we can get some immediate insights, ideas, & innovative solutions that had never come to mind before.

There are no definitive answers about “how” to accomplish effective actions following the question storming. The questions developed will create new thinking about the drivers and priorities for next steps.

Our panel picks up the discussion from the difficult questions and looks for conclusions and recommendations to better create the workplaces and business communities that we aspire to.

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Lead Participant: Julie Kent MBE, Chair, Open Door

Julie is an experienced Trustee working in the non-profit organization management industry & Fundraising.

She is named as one of the 50 Greatest Women in Gloucestershire, Top 100 Women in the West and recently Gained the Most Outstanding Woman in the Charitable Sector in the West.  Julie has been a housemistress at Dean Close for over 20 years specialising in teenagers coping with life!

Event:

Following a very difficult year, many businesses look very different to how they were 15 months ago.

Businesses that are thinking about smaller workforces, Businesses who have hugely grown while their workforce has been based at home.

We have businesses who are a similar size, but with home-working now well recognised, do they need the premises they had – and with mental health and wellbeing, is it time for a re-think?

There’s never been such a time to look at business with a clean sheet.  With mental health and climate change as significant threats, we see three pillars of thinking:

• Re-evaluating supply chains
• Re-evaluating Environmental processes and values
• Re-evaluating workplaces, working environment and staff wellbeing

It’s a work in progress and a discussion affecting everyone.

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Lead Participant: Steve Gardner-Collins, Director Visit Gloucestershire

Steve is an experienced and highly motivated tourism & hospitality Sales Director with the drive, passion and enthusiasm to inspire and lead others.

He enjoys leading a sales culture throughout business and is a marketer with experience across design, digital and social platforms in multifaceted environments in local, domestic and international markets.

Steve describes himself as an Organiser, a team player and a champion for well-being, diversity and inclusivity.

Event:

Letting the past guide your way for the future…

COVID has changed the way we do business, can we take it day by day, week by week, month by month?

Do we need a longer-term plan? How flexible do we need to be?

Should businesses be more financially secure without the need for government grants and job retention schemes?

Are you set up to respond to rapid change and business disruptions?

In times of long closure are you safeguarding your people and assets?

Join us for this critical discussion, lots of vital questions to answer, critical thinking & logical planning could make or break your organisation.

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Lead Participant: Steve Gardner-Collins, Director Visit Gloucestershire

Steve is an experienced and highly motivated tourism & hospitality Sales Director with the drive, passion and enthusiasm to inspire and lead others.

He enjoys leading a sales culture throughout business and is a marketer with experience across design, digital and social platforms in multifaceted environments in local, domestic and international markets.

Steve describes himself as an Organiser, a team player and a champion for well-being, diversity and inclusivity.

Event

Local Procurement across private and public sector businesses is a significant pillar in economic recovery.

Procurement of goods and services with a local emphasis supports carbon reduction and environmental response to the climate emergency.  It also supports businesses based in a locality, employing locally, buying goods and services locally and generally keeping the UK pound in a circular, local pattern.

The visitor economy is leading thinking with its spend on the food and drink supply chain spending being used to think about re-focusing towards the local economy.

Visit Gloucestershire have pulled together an informed panel of those in the sector to discuss how this can be fast tracked.  Implications for other sectors is clear making this an important discussion supporting local economies.

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Lead Participant: Cathryn Hage – Pentacom PR and Marketing

Cathryn is a freelance marketing professional having worked across the communications spectrum for clients in B2B and B2C. Her experience has touched many industries including engineering, health & wellbeing, food & beverage, electronics, clothing and sport.

With her roots in PR and the written word, she can often be seen on social media and blogging as digital marketing content forms an important element of work today. Cathryn is very active in fundraising as a Trustee of the Pied Piper Appeal children’s charity, and also holds vice chair and sponsorship at Cirencester Rugby.

Event:

Marketing, like brand, can sometimes be a misunderstood term. As businesses come out of lockdown and start to recover after the effects of a worldwide pandemic, it is imperative that they have a robust and workable marketing strategy. This session will discover the importance of marketing and the value that it can add to a companies profile and ultimately sales and turnover. The panel will address all aspects of marketing, looking at strategy, what channels of communication are best suited to different marketing requirements, how results can be monitored and assessed and the synergy between brand and marketing.