Representatives from six local businesses have hailed the success of the first of a series of ‘round table’ discussions hosted by chartered accountants Harding Lewis Ltd.
The idea behind the events is to bring together business owners from a variety of sectors serving the local community, to share ideas and information on business growth strategies, including marketing and sales. The inaugural meeting was attended by a truly diverse group: Andrew Gerrard of Harding Lewis; Graeme Brooks from Ashgrove Marketing; Alan Davies, owner of Airport Secure Parking; John Horsthuis from Robinsons; Ralph Peake, owner of Luminaires; Gary Peirce of Hopes & Dreams; and James Quinn, founder of Quinn Legal.
All of the attendees welcomed the opportunity to discuss growth and marketing with people from other sectors, as a way of generating new ideas in an open and honest environment. The varying pressures and opportunities of the recessionary marketplace were discussed and different marketing options proposed to deal with them. Of particular interest were inter-industry partnerships, where non-competing businesses shared marketing costs to reach shared audiences – an area that Mr Davies shared his recent experiences on. Social media was also discussed as an area in which many companies were looking to grow, as most participants admitted to cutting back on traditional advertising such as print and radio.
The two hour discussion was hosted by Managing Director of Harding Lewis, Andrew Gerrard. He commented: “We focus on delivering a value-added service for owner managed businesses aimed at growth, which includes marketing support. This event was the pilot for a format we want to continue on a regular basis, bringing in different groups of business leaders to discuss ways of flourishing in the Manx business environment.”
Mr Quinn also commented: “I really appreciated the chance to discuss these issues in such an open forum and would like to thank Andrew and Harding Lewis for arranging it. The small size of the group helped us all to engage directly and ask questions of the other business leaders present. I look forward to more of this sort of healthy collaboration in the near future.”
Future events will be of a similar size, with a rotating attendance of different business leaders. The focus will remain on growth and marketing. The chance to feedback from those smaller meetings at a large event was also mooted by the attendees.
Harding Lewis Ltd is a local firm of chartered accountants and business advisors with a speciality in supporting owner-managed businesses. Their clients enjoy a benefit unique in the Isle of Man: access to free marketing advice from UK based marketing agency The Academy for Growth. In addition to the round table events, Harding Lewis is also holding a seminar entitled Stress Free Business Growth on 26th April, with guest speakers. For further details please contact Harding Lewis on 679524.
