South West ‘speed dating with funders’ event declared a success

south west, chartered accountants, business funders

Rapt attention: Some of the 150 strong audience at the fifth annual ‘Finance in the South West’ seminar, held at Exeter Racecourse. Picture: Andy Styles.

Organisers have hailed the latest ‘speed dating with funders’ event as a huge success.

More than 150 people attended the fifth annual Finance in the South West seminar, organised by chartered accountants and business advisers PKF Francis Clark.

A dozen sources of grant, debt and equity funding took part together with business support agencies.

The 24 speakers included Chris Garcia, Chief Executive of the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).

A key feature was ‘short and sharp’ five minute presentations allowing delegates to assess which funding stream or funder best matched their needs.

Targeted sessions were held for start ups and also for businesses with less than, as well as more than, two years of trading.

The feedback from delegates included:

  • “Really good, a successful regional event with an impressive line-up of keynote speakers”
  • “An excellent summary of the competitive funding landscape”
  • “Splitting the group made the later sessions very relevant”

Paul Butler, a Partner with PKF Francis Clark, said: “This is one of our flagship events and, once again, it was a huge success.

“Organising such an event with so many speakers is a big undertaking but the very positive reaction we have received from participants more than justifies the hard work put in by our team.

“Hopefully the seminar opened the eyes of delegates to the many different sources of funding available, helping to fuel even further business growth in the South West.”

Slides from the event at Exeter Racecourse can be found on PKF Francis Clark’s website at: www.pkf-francisclark.co.uk

Note to Journalists:

About PKF Francis Clark

Chartered accountants and business advisers PKF Francis Clark has annual revenue of £38 million, a team of more than 600 people and 60 partners. Founded in 1919, the award-winning firm has eight offices across Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Hampshire, Somerset and Wiltshire. PKF Francis Clark is a member of PKF UKI which is ranked 11th in the Accountancy Age 2016 survey of top accountancy firms.

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