I was invited to take part in a business panel at a Jobtown European event. The event was held at High House Production Park in Purfleet.
Jobtown is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund through URBACT. It is a European network of local partnerships for the advancement of youth employment and opportunity.
Delegates from Poland, Italy, Germany, Cyprus, Portugal, Spain, France, and Hungary attended the event.
Workshop
I attended the UK Business Environment Overview workshop facilitated by Ian Goldring, the Jobtown Lead Expert. The members of the panel gave an overview of the UK’s business environment, and there were discussions on access to funding, education and training, coordinated support, and entrepreneurship culture. The delegates were keen to learn what support is provided to businesses here in the UK. They had a lot of questions for the panel.
Business panel
The business panel was next. I was introduced along with Mike Wayans from Team Fitness and Neil Woodbridge from Thurrock Lifestyle Solutions. This was an opportunity for us to talk about our experience in setting up businesses and the support we have received along the way. It was fascinating to see so many different nationalities in the same room. The interpreters were busy! It was interesting to see the 4 interpreters translating my words and the delegates listening to their headphones. The delegates were interested in our experiences. I was approached by several at the end of the workshop who mentioned they liked hearing my story and congratulated me on my success.
Being part of the business panel gave me a chance to reflect on what I have learned and achieved running my own business and the support I have received.
I was honoured to be involved in the Transnational Thematic Workshop as part of the Jobtown programme, connecting cities and building successes.
