Creative industries takes centre stage at Leicester Business Festival

A remarkable 20 creative-led business events will be taking place during this year’s Leicester Business Festival from 23rd October to 3rd November.

Creative Industries is one of the leading sectors in the Business Festival which this year, will see over 150 events in total over the fortnight, with everything from conferences, seminars, workshops, trade shows to exhibitions, award ceremonies and recruitment fairs.

Sponsored by Leicester Castle Business School, the Leicester Business Festival, is an annual, two-week ‘festival’ of free business events covering a variety of sectors including Creative Industries, Professional Services, Marketing and Business Support, Food & Drink, Sport and Health, Tourism and Hospitality and many more.

Events in the are all put on by local businesses or organisations to encourage business growth. Most events are free and open to absolutely anyone in the world to attend!

As the first of its kind to be run in the UK and now in its third year, Leicester Business Festival is by far, the largest business event in the region.

Geoff Rowe, chief executive of the Big Difference Company is the LBF sector lead for Creative Industries. He said, “Creative industries is a thriving sector in Leicester & Leicestershire with over 4,400 businesses employing some 14,000 people and one of the largest creative clusters outside of London. This is particularly evident with over 20 events taking place in this year’s Festival.

“The Leicester Business Festival provides a fantastic platform to not only showcase the fabulous range of sub- industries in the sector, but also to illustrate that Creative Industries, makes a very important contribution to the local economy.”

The exciting range of creative events include:

A topical panel conversation with guest speakers answering 'What makes a successful Cultural Quarter?'What are we doing right in Leicester and where should we be heading?
Creatives Without Borders: Selling your services abroad – exploring the challenges and opportunities of working globally.
Meet the Makers - A creative boutique style reception showcasing the work of Leicester’s highly innovative and high quality Designer Makers.
How to start a business in the fashion industry - learn from business founders of ‘We are Gentlemen’ and ‘Kingdom of Origin’ along with Neil Clough, Director of ‘This is Prime’ and finalist in The Apprentice 2013, on how to successfully start a business in a competitive market place.
The Leicester Stand Up Comedy Challenge, where eight prominent local business leaders will take to the stage and perform their first ever five minutes of stand-up comedy, all in aid of charity.
Mixed Economies - Diversifying Income Streams in Cultural and Creative Business - This event looks at the challenges faced grant cuts to UKs cultural sector and innovative approaches to financing cultural production.