Businesses across Monmouthshire gathered again to connect, collaborate and network with potential partners and suppliers at a sell-out Expo held at the Basepoint business centre in Chepstow last week.
Over 50 businesses and 75 people attended the event, which was a follow-up to the landmark Expo at Abergavenny Market Hall on 6 July. Attendees got the chance to showcase their products and services as well as chat with fellow founders to network and learn more about the opportunities across the county.
The events are part of the wider Elevate Monmouthshire project, supporting entrepreneurship across the county. The initiative offers the local business community a combination of start-up programmes, bespoke enterprise acceleration and one-to-one coaching, with a number of expos also intended to help entrepreneurs and local firms grow their network.
Elevate Monmouthshire and the Monmouthshire Business Expos are being run in partnership with coworking and small business support specialist Town Square Spaces Ltd (TownSq), the enterprise accelerator programme The Alacrity Foundation and Monmouthshire County Council.
TownSq’s Project Manager, Kevin Mansell-Abell, who managed the event, said: “July’s Expo in Abergavenny was a first-of-its-kind, so we were thrilled to see the follow-up in Chepstow receive just as much interest and sell-out. The event went so well that it felt like it ran itself and we had some wonderful conversations with some interesting people.
“There is an enormous appetite for these kinds of events across the county, which is fuelled by some amazing individuals and their businesses. The opportunity to meet and learn from other like-minded entrepreneurs is incredibly valuable, and doing so in an environment that fosters collaboration is inspiring.
“We were excited to be a part of this project because we could see the potential impact it could make on the surrounding community and local economy, and if its first few months are anything to go by, Monmouthshire is set to be a trailblazer for the building and growing of local businesses.”
The programme is currently looking for businesses with high growth potential to take part in an accelerator programme starting in January 2024. Anyone interested in taking part can register their interest at www.elevate.wales
