Shropshire businesses come together to share best practice at the first Business Growth Roadshow

This week, Shropshire’s Company of the Year, Aico, welcomed 50 attendees from businesses across the county to their headquarters in Oswestry for the first Business Growth Roadshow in association with the Shropshire Chamber of Commerce.

As part of the event, Aico shared the story behind the creation of their company culture and values and how these have contributed to their significant growth and success. Through a series of short, engaging presentations, the audience heard from a variety of Aico colleagues.

Managing Director, Neal Hooper, set the scene by explaining the origins of Aico’s company culture and values and why it was important for these to be created by all colleagues from each area of the business.

Operations and Learning & Development Manager, Lee Duffy, leads Aico’s training and development programme and provided an insight into how each session is carefully designed to promote colleague relationships and put the foundations in place to ensure teams and individuals can always be at their best.

Finance and Commercial Director, Matthew Small, shared his own perspective on how the culture and values have been embraced by colleagues and brought positive changes to the company during his career.

Community Liaison, Jane Pritchard, concluded the evening by describing the benefits of a corporate social responsibility programme and why businesses need to support their local communities. Jane comments, “It was fantastic to host the first Business Growth Roadshow and have the opportunity to network with such a diverse range of companies from the local area. We hope the audience found the event valuable and we look forward to meeting more businesses and individuals during the upcoming events.”

The event also saw guest speakers from a range of businesses and sectors, including The HR Department, Beeline Personnel, Derwen College, Aaron & Partners and WR Partners. As experts in their fields, each business shared invaluable insights into the challenges faced by many organisations, such as managing cash flow, the skills gap and recruitment.

Director of Membership Engagement at the Shropshire Chamber, Rachel Owen said of the evening, “The first instalment of the Roadshow was a brilliant event and an opportunity to hear about Aico’s journey and the support available for Shropshire business growth. With the next stop being in Ludlow, I am keen to meet and support further organisations in this great county.”

The roadshow will take place at 5 more locations throughout October and November, including Ludlow, Whitchurch, Telford, Bridgnorth and Shrewsbury. Each event will welcome a different selection of guest speakers to cover pertinent topics within the Shropshire business community.

The next event will take place at 8am in Ludlow at the town’s brewery on Friday 14th October, moving to Whitchurch on Wednesday 26th October, beginning at 12pm at Station AI.

November’s events will commence at Telford’s Hadley Park House Hotel on Wednesday 2nd November at 6pm. The Roadshow will then travel to Bridgnorth’s Reel Cinema on Monday 14th November with the event starting at 12pm, and conclude at Shrewsbury Town Football Club on Tuesday 29th November at 8am.

Each event is due to last 90 minutes, with extra time allocated for complimentary refreshments and networking opportunities.

For booking information, please contact the Shropshire Chamber of Commerce at www.shropshire-chamber.co.uk or 01952 208200.