Director General of the British Chamber of Commerce urges the Government to not be hasty with interest rate rises as he takes to the stage at Kent B2B

The annual Kent B2B took place on Tuesday 8th July at the Ashford International Hotel hosted by the Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce. Amongst the keynote speakers was John Longworth, the current Director General of the British Chamber of Commerce. Following the release of the 2nd Quarterly Economic Survey by Mr Longworth to the press in London he travelled to the Ashford event to discuss the results with the business audience from across Kent.

Survey results show stabilisation in growth

The survey is the result of 7,000 businesses across the UK and amongst the key headlines of the latest report were what the Director General called an “unsurprising” decline or stabilisation of the growth of the economy after it had “jolted forward” in the first quarterly survey results. However, these figures should be taken in context as many of them are actually still higher than their pre-recession 2007 levels and should therefore be viewed in a positive way.

Mr Longworth commented “these are strong results that show the recovery is moving forward.” As the first survey of the quarter to be released the BCC’s Quarterly Economic Survey is keenly anticipated by both the Treasury and the Bank of England. As such Mr Longworth argued that the Bank of England should consider carefully whether now was the right time to raise interest rates in the “very short term” or whether this would serve to limit the growth ambitions of many businesses.  At the Kent B2B Mr Longworth’s speech was wide ranging touching on key current political issues such as the Scottish referendum and the upcoming General Election along with key business issues such as infrastructure and exporting.

Alongside Mr Longworth’s key note the Kent Invicta Chamber’s business to business exhibition and conference saw 2 marketing experts take to the stage offering invaluable advice to businesses across the county. Daniel Priestley spoke of the Key Person of Influence concept, outlining how any business person can begin to build their influence to become a key player within their niche. Warren Cass spoke of the recent trend of disruptive marketing and its impact on they way firms do business.

High quality content and networking opportunities

With 90 exhibitors and nearly 1,000 people attending the Kent B2B successfully mixes the needs of businesses to keep up-to -date with the latest innovations within business alongside offering fantastic networking opportunities for exhibitors and delegates alike.

Jo James, Chief Executive of the Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce commented “The Kent B2B is the longest running of our B2B events, as such it offers a broad range of businesses the opportunity to learn, network and do business. Today has been a fantastic success with many people commenting on the high quality contacts that they have made. Our keynote speakers and workshops are firmly focussed on offering delegates the very best advice and leaving them with real life actions that they can immediately implement in their business - whatever sector they operate in and at whatever level.”

Jo continued “All in all I think it was great day for businesses in Kent - finished off with a brilliant evening with our Annual Dinner hosted by the inimitable Gordon Banks. We will now focus our attention on our next B2B which will be in East Kent, in Canterbury on the 11th September. With ex Dragons Den star Doug Richards, Andrew Priestley and QJ confirmed as keynote speaker it’s shaping up to be another great event for businesses in Kent, and from further afield.”