Green and Black’s Jo Fairley to headline Shropshire business event

Jo Fairley, co-founder of £75 million-a-year chocolate retailer Green and Black's, has been signed up to be the headline speaker at the Business Growth and Export Show in Shrewsbury.

The free event will provide inspirational help and advice to businesses across the county looking to expand and target foreign markets. Supported by the Department of International Trade, Shropshire Chamber of Commerce and the Federation of Small Businesses, the show will include networking, an expo, buffet lunch, and presentations from international trade advisors and a successful local exporting business.

It is being staged at Shrewsbury's Town's stadium on November 23 by the Marches Growth Hub and will also mark the start of the hub's major Get Exporting campaign.

Paul Hinkins, chairman of the Marches Growth Hub and vice-chairman of the Marches LEP, said the event would be an unmissable opportunity for any businesses across the county.

"Jo Fairley is one of the most inspirational business speakers in the country as well as one of the most successful businesswomen we have. In the space of just 27 years she has taken her business from a Portobello Road bedroom to one of the world's most admired global ethical brands.

"There is little she does not know about both growing a business and being a hugely-successful exporter and she will share many of the lessons she has learned with delegates during a keynote session.

"The event is also the start of a major drive to encourage more companies in our region to broaden their horizons and start exploiting the opportunities which exporting can provide.

"We have some hugely innovative, world-class companies in the Marches and we want to do everything we can to help them ensure their products are available to as wide a market as possible."

The show will include exhibitions from organisations involved in supporting businesses to grow and trade internationally. And experts from the Marches Growth Hub will also be on hand to offer unrivalled advice on all aspects of business and export growth and highlight the huge range of local and national support available to help businesses expand.

The event gets under way at 10am, with Jo due to speak at 1pm before rounding off the show with a question and answer session.

To book a ticket for the event go to https://bit.ly/2Rk2XL2