Member Article

Acclaimed entrepreneurs share tips for business success

Two successful entrepreneurs and a former England rugby captain and World Cup winner will be sharing the secrets of their booming businesses at the UK’s largest franchising and business event.

The National Franchise Exhibition, which takes place on 5 and 6 October at The NEC Birmingham, features inspiring speakers as part of the event’s exclusive Growing Your Own Business conference. These speakers will detail their own experiences developing successful enterprises and provide valuable advice and guidance for budding businesspeople.

Andy Fussell, founder of Fussel’s Fine Foods, will explain how he translated his love of local produce into an award-winning business. He will detail the story of his progression from farmer to high street product producer in his talk “From overalls to the high street”.

Former Dragon’s Den contestant, Andy, has created a range of sauces, oils, dressings and mayonnaise using his own-grown rapeseed oil. The range has now expanded to eight products and has received numerous awards and acclaim.

Keira O’Mara is director of Mama Designs Ltd, which creates award winning baby products. She has built a successful business from scratch and now sells her products worldwide via her website and through major UK retailers including Boots, Mothercare and Asda. Keira’s award-winning products have even been used by some celebrity parents, and she is currently building on this success by developing more items.

At The Growing Your Own Business conference, she will explain how she spotted a gap in the market and created popular products that fulfil a real need from consumers in her talk ‘One mum band - how my baby products became a success’

Phil Vickery MBE was a member of the World Cup winning England rugby team in 2003 and later captained for his country. After starting his own clothing range, Raging Bull and winning the coveted 2011 Celebrity MasterChef title, Phil decided to take on a new challenge. He has recently joined the franchise industry as a Director for market-leading lettings agency franchise SureLet Ltd.

Phil will talk about his transition from sporting triumphs to success in the business world, and how his experience on the field informs his approach to franchising.

“I liken the work with SureLet to rugby, as in the property industry team spirit and family atmosphere go hand-in-hand with raw skill and a hard work ethic. In rugby, once you’re welcomed into the ‘family’ you have a support network that you can constantly call upon when you’re struggling.”

Phil will be speaking about his journey and his aspirations at 15:30 on Friday 5 October in Theatre 4.

The Growing Your Own Business conference is part of The National Franchise Exhibition, which showcases over 150 exhibitors with a variety of career opportunities to suit every budget and lifestyle. Franchise exhibitors range across industries such as food and drink, finance, retail, property, care, travel and more. These include brands such as McDonald’s, Guinot, Cash Converters, Papa Johns, WPA, Lawn Keeper, Mac Tools, Banana Moon Day Nursery and Home Sale Bureau. Visitors can meet with franchisors to find out what is on offer, and hear from existing franchisees to gain an insider’s account of running a franchise.

Visitors can also have confidence in all the franchise businesses showcased at The National Franchise Exhibition, as it is exclusively supported by the British Franchise Association (bfa) and only features companies that meet the Association’s code of ethics.

There will also be experts offering advice as part of this combined event, including banks such as HSBC and NatWest, accountants, solicitors and franchising experts. Valuable advice will be on offer at the exclusive free conference which has a packed programme of seminars by the bfa on key franchise-related topics as well as talks on different elements of growing a business, how to franchise an existing business and all aspects of investing in a franchise.

The exhibition is open from 10am each day, closing at 5pm on Friday and 4pm on Saturday. To register for The National Franchise Exhibition in Birmingham, call +44 (0)844 257 8668 visit www.franchiseinfo.co.uk. Callers can purchase tickets by credit card for £10 each or £8 each for two or more. Admission on the door is £15.

Visitors can, however gain FREE admission by using the promotional code FWGYOB when they register on the website.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Emma Ward .