A celebrity potter and a former music journalist have been lined up as keynote speakers at a new five-day business festival.
Shaping the Future is Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council’s first ever business festival and will take place between 10 and 14 March.
Keith Brymer Jones, most well-known as an expert judge on The Great Pottery Throw Down, and Andy Spinoza, whoalso worked as a PR guru and wrote a book about Manchester’s music scene, will speak on different days.
Other speakers include local business leaders such as Cyberkiln’s Chris Daniels and Rob Fisher and Wendy Dean of Strategi Solutions.
The event will also include a business market in the town centre, musical entertainment, workshops, panel discussions, exhibitions, and guest speakers at venues around the town.
Each day of the festival will have a different theme, starting with Entrepreneurs Launch Day on Monday, 10 March and followed by Innovation Expo on Tuesday, Business Network on Wednesday, Women in Business on Thursday and Open Door Business on Friday.
Gordon Mole, Chief Executive at Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council, said: “Newcastle’s Business Festival is an opportunity to highlight the very best that we have in the borough and make it a strong proposition for businesses, not just locally, but nationally.
“The event takes place over a week, working with partners in a range of events and locations across Newcastle-under-Lyme, working with our colleagues in the university at Keele University, working with Newcastle College, and particularly having a focus on those areas which are going to be of interest to existing and potential entrepreneurs and growing businesses.
“Strategically, it’s about generating growth, creating opportunities for the future, new skills, jobs, ways of working, connections and networks.”
Bookings are now open for the Open Door Business Day and stalls on Entrepreneurs Launch Day.
Gordon added: “It’s important to us that everybody does get involved, whether as an individual or a business. Together we’ll celebrate and advance the collaborative efforts of local organisations that are driving progress in Newcastle-under-Lyme and help shape the future of our vibrant community.”
The Business Festival is funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund via Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council.
For more information about the festival and events taking place, visit the website here.