NEWS RELEASES
MicroBiz – bigger and better than before
25th January 2006
MICROBIZ, the Horsham District’s premier event for small, start up and home based businesses, returns this year with even more speakers and stallholders.
The MicroBiz Fair 2006 is taking place on Saturday 18 March at The Drill Hall, Denne Road in Horsham from 10am until 4pm.
This is the fourth year the event has taken place but this year it’s bigger than before.
Following on from this, there will be another MicroBiz later in the year in Steyning to be held at the Steyning Centre on Saturday 24 June. More information about this will follow nearer the time.
Both events are free to enter for visitors, as are the business seminars – however advanced free booking for the seminars is advised to avoid disappointment.
This year at the Horsham event there are twice as many speakers than last year with talks coming from The Franchise Alliance, Business Link and Horsham Women in Business as well as The Inland Revenue, The Enterprise Centre and ZHR Marketing.
At last year’s MicroBiz Fair there were seven seminars for visitors to attend and this year there are 13 to choose from, with subjects including, ‘The Where, Why and How of starting a Business’, ‘Smart Marketing for Small Businesses’ and ‘Networking’.
Speaking about the forthcoming events, Cllr Roger Paterson, Cabinet Member for Economic Development & IT at Horsham District Council, said:
“Recent research has shown Horsham District Council's MicroBiz initiative has made the Horsham District the most successful in Sussex to start a new business and, most importantly, also to provide the best survival rates for new businesses.”
He added: “This year's MicroBiz Fairs in Horsham and Steyning will offer a carefully planned mix of business information and services, together with a wider choice than ever of inspirational free seminars dedicated to helping small, home based, and start up businesses.”
There are will be approximately 45 stalls on the day at the Horsham event with firms representing accounting, graphic design, computer services, web design and telecommunications. Some new companies have been invited to the fair too, including a joint stall from Holbrook Homepages and Southwater Handbook - both of which are community magazines with business directories.
The purpose of these events is entirely to help and develop the local economy of the Horsham District and follows on from research by Horsham District Council in finding out the needs of the many home based businesses in the area.
“When we carried out the research we discovered that out of the people we questioned almost 9% of people ran a business from home; that’s how it all began and then it snowballed from there,” explained Chris Baister, Business Development Manager at Horsham District Council and organiser of MicroBiz.
“What we discovered they wanted was to go out and meet likeminded business people as there is an isolation factor when you work at home; they also wanted to find out about new legislation and laws.”
The MicroBiz Fairs 2006 in the Horsham District are organised by Horsham District Council and are sponsored by Sussex Enterprise, SEEDA and West Sussex County Council, whose sponsorship is invaluable in being able to put on the events.
For more information about the Horsham District’s MicroBiz Fairs in 2006, contact Chris Baister at Horsham District Council on (01403) 215542. There is also a wealth of information for businesses on Horsham District Council’s website
The MicroBiz concept was originated by Horsham District Council and it is now replicated in other areas of West Sussex as well as the Horsham District.
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CONTACT: Richard Morris, Communications Manager
Email: richard.morris@horsham.gov.uk