Over 50 delegates attended the ‘Punch Above Your Weight’ event, which was organised by North Durham accountancy firm, Valued Accountancy.

The free event not only brings together like-minded businesses, but is also an opportunity to share the success stories of some of the most influential business minds to help other businesses succeed, grow and ‘punch above their weight’.

The strong panel of guests and speakers shared their business journey’s and stories by highlighting their successes, failures, what worked for them and what all business owners should look out for.

Stephen Paul, Managing Director of Valued Accountancy welcomed everybody to the event and spoke about his journey in setting up an award winning accountancy practice, which is now trading nationally and internationally.

Alan McGee, Digital Media Director at Say Consulting talked about social media and how businesses can use this as a platform to improve the marketing of their businesses, products and services.

Nicola Cook, CEO of Company Shortcuts and Director of Aurora Training spoke about effective partnerships and the important steps companies should take when working together.

Darren Glanville, Director of Sales for Spotlight Reporting stressed the importance of measuring business performance, setting goals and having a clear strategy for business success.

After the break, Jason Knights, Managing Director of Blue Kangaroo Design gave an inspirational talk about his journey and how he has developed his business with global companies such as Disney and Pixar.

Lead speaker Gary Turner, UK Managing Director of global software giant Xero who also ranks as the third most influential person for social media in the world of business and finance, talked about how the internet has changed the way we do business and how this could look in the future.

Stephen Paul said, “The idea of organising the event came from our journey but also from other business owners in the North East. I wanted to put on a free event for local business owners and entrepreneurs which had a really strong list of guests and speakers. It would normally cost a fortune to attend an event with a list of speakers of that calibre so I just felt it was good to give something back and the response was very positive.”

Bryony Gibson, Managing Director of Bryony Gibson Consulting, who attended the event commented: “It was a fabulous event hosted by Valued with a great mix of inspirational and credible speakers, which was great to see in the North East. You couldn’t help but feel motivated by their passion for business, taking risks and generally punching above their weight!”

Also attending the event was Craig Downs, Managing Director of Up North Communications. He said: “It was a great event with some inspirational speakers who gave us an excellent insight into their business journey’s but some very useful tips and advice, which I have already started to implement into my business.

“It was a very informal event with no hard-sell, which you would expect at most of these events. All the speakers were very approachable afterwards and it was a good opportunity to network with other delegates too.”

Due to the success of the first event, Valued Accountancy has organised a second’Punch Above Your Weight’ event to be held on Thursday, December 3 also at St. James’ Park. For more information or to book your free place, please contact Valued Accountancy on 01207 502 145, email wecare@yourvalued.co.uk

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