Business Vision Live

From Chris Carlisle, Business Development & Portfolio Officer, KPSN

Published 16 May 2023

On May 10th I attended the Business Vision Live event at the Kent Show Ground as a visitor (not as an exhibitor). The event is in its  sixteenth year and clearly well established with 130 exhibitors and an estimated 2000 visitors for this single day. Entry was free - not something that you hear much of these days!

Business Vision Live was held indoors and from the front to the back the enthusiasm and passion from each exhibitor was apparent. In addition to the main hall, there were meeting rooms for key speakers, round table sessions and inspirational talks. A reflection of how technology has evolved from the humble business card was the use of QR coded name badges, making it easy to introduce myself and the KPSN service to new contacts across Public and Private sectors. 

Roger Gough, Leader of Kent County Council 

I had booked in to the first speaker of the day, the KCC Leader, Roger Gough, he gave an opening speech which covered:

  • Kent’s unique proximity to Europe
  • Skills gaps in the county and the plan to upskill the next generation
  • The strategy to encourage larger firms to have a presence in Kent, creating more jobs and a skilled workforce

 Piers Linney was the next key speaker; I had never heard of Piers, but my colleague, Catherine Ridgeway, had encouraged me to  listen to his presentation.