More than 60 local business owners attended events during the inaugural Craven Business Week hosted by Craven District Council last week.
Free support and guidance provided by the experts covered a range of topics from IT to HR, training to leadership and inclusion. The events provided a platform for networking and sharing insights into overcoming the challenges facing small businesses in the area.
Attendees from a cross section of small businesses heard from 18 speakers across the series of varied events hosted in Skipton and at the new Langcliffe Quarry Enterprise Centre near Settle, where the week opened with over 30 businesses enjoying tours around The Enterprise Hub and the newly purpose-built units available to let.
On Tuesday at Craven College presentations from skills providers, policy-makers and businesses focussed on future skills requirements in Craven, with Abi Player from Skills Team at the York & North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) noting that “it was great to discover how much is being done” in developing new skills provision.
In the afternoon, a discussion focussing on ZeroCarbon buildings ended with a visit to a ‘Passivhaus’ at the Auction Mart Campus. Passivhaus’ require absolutely no heating, as they use the heat provided by occupiers. Andrew Mcmullan of McMullan Studios, winners of a RIBA competition for innovation architecture to provide affordable homes for young people in the Yorkshire Dales, spoke of new build planning using both green design and construction materials such as reused steel and hempcrete. Erin Wheeler, the Circular Economy Officer at the York & Yorkshire LEP, described the ZeroCarbon Toolkit that businesses can adopt to create a plan to work towards net zero by saving energy and other resources. Jonathan Kerr of Age UK enjoyed the “thinking time and chance for networking” the event provided him.
Skipton Town Hall was the venue for Diligence in the Digital World, where delegates could meet experts in all matters online to help them in their next steps on the web. Danny Payne, Digital Design Lead at Skipton Building Society provided tips on improving accessibility to online content for those with visual or other impairments. An introduction to the Business Resilience Centre was presented by DI Steve Leach in partnership with the Police Service acting against cybercrime. Ben Quitman of DvG Creative enlightened delegates on how video can be implemented in different ways according to the customer’s point in the purchase journey.
The Art of Positive Networking at Langcliffe Quarry Enterprise Hub on Thursday was well-attended, with Sarah Collett, founder of SBC Marketing and Skipton Business Social highlighting best practice for in-person meetings and networking. Delegate Anna Lawrence enjoyed “meeting people and thinking again about the pitch” when meeting a prospective client.
The week concluded with the York & North Yorkshire LEP’s Business Summit in York which opened the discussion and consultation on the Devolution Plan for York and North Yorkshire. Several Craven businesses attended the event while many more participated online. The keynote was provided by MP for Thirsk and Malton Kevin Hollinrake, while presentations on the region’s NetZero ambitions were provided by business representatives from Techbuyer, LEaF Translations and Mike Powley from Oak House Farms, who is nearing zero-carbon on his farm.
The Craven Business Week programme of events was staged thanks to the European Regional Development Fund, financial support which is due to end in Spring 2023, but it is hoped Craven Business Week may return next year and will gain momentum to become an annual event inspiring the local business community.
