Record numbers attend Business Innovation South Expo

The organisers of this year’s Business Innovation South Expo have called it "the best yet", having welcomed record numbers of attendees.

The event, held at Portsmouth’s Lakeside North Harbour business centre gave the South’s companies and organisations an opportunity to network, make connections and raise their profile. 66 exhibitors from across 40 sectors and services attended.

Innovations on display this year included drone services, electric vehicles, jetpacks, cloud-based information management, telecoms, data protection, cyber resilience, artificial intelligence and sensor technology.

Attendees were also able to join four speaker sessions and participate in five workshops which considered a number of important business themes. Among these were subjects such as business resilience and environmental sustainability.

Organiser Lara Bull said: “It was a huge success that topped our previous expos in every way, including the reach of the speakers and sponsors, the number and quality of exhibitors, the range of sectors covered and the visitor numbers. It was definitely the best yet.

“People are already talking about #BIS2023 and expressing interest in being sponsors, exhibitors and presenters, so there is every chance we can build on this year’s success and do even better next year.”

IT support and communications technology provider Curatrix Technologies, a returning exhibitor to the show, was the headline sponsor for 2022.

Its Director, Nicholas DaCosta-Greene, said: “Our goals align with the ethos of bringing sustainable and accessible technology to the UK and what better way to showcase that to the business community than through Business Innovation South.”

Read more - BAE Systems to sponsor Business Innovation South Expo

Along with the representatives from enterprise, a number of academic institutions were also part of both the exhibitors and attendees.

The universities of Surrey, Winchester, Southampton, Portsmouth and Bournemouth were all among the institutions discussing how their research activities may be commercialised.

Also exhibiting were Arts University Bournemouth, Solent University, the SETsquared university partnership and, on the subject of marine technology, the National Oceanography Centre.    

Mark Lumsdon-Taylor, a partner in the global accountancy group MHA MacIntyre Hudson, arrived for his talk on ESG (environmental, social and governance) standards by gliding into the room on a hoverboard.

He told the audience: “I wanted to demonstrate in a highly practical way that in an ever-changing business landscape if you want to achieve innovation and agility you have to do things differently.”

Mark went on to highlight the need to “weld profit with purpose to stay resilient, recover from difficulty and grow stronger in the face of challenge”, adding: “If you can achieve that, you have a sustainable business.”    

Business membership organisations exhibiting at the event included Tech Solent, the Institute of Directors, Hampshire Chamber of Commerce, the Federation of Small Businesses and SECRC, the Cyber Resilience Centre for the South East.

Delegates to the expo were also able to download an app for the event, which was built and managed by Southampton-based software development specialist, Netshell.

Basingstoke graphic communications shop Greenhouse Graphics were the sustainable print sponsor, while data handling specialist MediaBase Direct delivered a seamless, contactless registration process for attendees. 

Also in attendance was The Business Magazine's very own Alan Lindstrom, who spoke to attendees about the magazine's upcoming return to print.

Read more - Net zero takes centre stage at Business Innovation South Expo