Exeter ‘speed dating with funders’ event declared a success

Organisers have hailed the latest ‘speed dating with funders’ event as a huge success.

More than 150 people attended the fifth annual Finance in the South West seminar at Exeter Raceourse, organised by chartered accountants and business advisers PKF Francis Clark.

A dozen sources of grant, debt and equity funding took part together with business support agencies.

The 24 speakers included Chris Garcia, Chief Executive of the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).

A key feature was ‘short and sharp’ five minute presentations allowing delegates to assess which funding stream or funder best matched their needs.

Targeted sessions were held for start ups and also for businesses with less than, as well as more than, two years of trading.

The feedback from delegates included:

• “Really good, a successful regional event with an impressive line-up of keynote speakers”
• “An excellent summary of the competitive funding landscape”
• “Splitting the group made the later sessions very relevant”

Paul Butler, a Partner with PKF Francis Clark, said: “This is one of our flagship events and, once again, it was a huge success.

“Organising such an event with so many speakers is a big undertaking but the very positive reaction we have received from participants more than justifies the hard work put in by our team.

“Hopefully the seminar opened the eyes of delegates to the many different sources of funding available, helping to fuel even further business growth in the South West.”

Slides from the event can be found on PKF Francis Clark’s website at:
www.pkf-francisclark.co.uk