EEDA - East of England Development Agency

Sugar, spice and all things nice at East of England’s biggest business event

4 November 2009

The East of England’s biggest business event, Destination Growth, has been hailed ‘an outstanding success’ as over 800 ambitious local business leaders packed into the AirSpace hangar at Duxford on Tuesday (3 November).

Lord Alan Sugar held a typically candid debate with business leaders, Michelle Mone added some spice with a captivating keynote speech on developing the world-renowned Ultimo lingerie brand, and 30 other high-profile business experts contributed to a lively day at Duxford.

With a focus on helping businesses to survive and thrive during the recession, delegates could choose from a wide range of seminars, workshops, networking opportunities and the unique experiencing of meeting the likes of Greg Dyke under Concorde.

Richard Ellis, chair of EEDA, said:

“Destination Growth has once again proved to be an outstanding success. It was fantastic to see so many of this region’s business leaders, each with such gritty ambition to survive and thrive during the recession, come together – especially as time has never been such a precious commodity in business.”

One of the more unusual sessions of the day saw Scott Garrett – a former director of Williams F1 – draw some fascinating parallels between the cut-throat industry of Formula 1 and running a small business.

Garrett invited a handful of delegates on to the main stage at Destination Growth to get up close and personal with an F1 car. Armed with airguns, wheels and jacks, the delegates worked together to change a wheel on the on-stage AT&T Williams F1 car. It was a feature which helped Garrett to demonstrate the importance of teamwork, as 23 professionals replace 4 wheels on a car in around 2.5 seconds come race day.

Related Programmes

• Business Support
• Partnerships, Advocacy and Communications