Hosted by Colchester2020 and sponsored by Ellisons
Wednesday 17 October 2007
Barn Brasserie, Great Tey, 7.30am

PRESS RELEASE: An enterprising week for Colchester2020

On Wednesday 17 October 2007, Colchester2020 held its inaugural Power Breakfast at the Barn Brasserie in Great Tey, sponsored by Ellisons Solicitors. Over 100 local business people listened to presentations from David Frost, the Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce, and Rachel Bridge, Enterprise Editor of the Sunday Times.

A passionate advocate for business, David Frost referred to Colchester as a 'really strong brand' and 'somewhere people want to live'. He outlined the large-scale investment taking place in the town and spoke of the £17 billion economy which has a 'real sense of driving forward'. David also lamented the recent rise in Capital Gains Tax, over which he was due to meet the Secretary of State the same afternoon.

Rachel Bridge used her journalistic experiences with hundreds of successful businessmen and women to relate the qualities and determination needed to succeed as an entrepreneur. She inspired members of the audience, many of them leaving breakfast with a desire to start up or improve their own business.

All this enterprising talk was extremely appropriate for Colchester, which is the SME (small and medium size enterprise) capital of East of England and has over 2,300 start-ups each year.

"The turn-out was incredible", said Ewan Dodds, Colchester2020 Lead Partner for Business and MD of Whybrow Chartered Surveyors. "It was a fantastic way of engaging the local business community and most people took something valuable away from David and Rachel's thoughts. My thanks go to the Holiday Inn for providing accommodation to Rachel and David free of charge and Ellisons for making it all happen."

To top it all off, Colchester2020 reinforced its green credentials by transporting guests and speakers to the event on the town's sightseeing bus to reduce the number of cars being used.

The following day, Colchester2020 held its bi-annual Assembly and launched Colchester's Sustainable Community Strategy, the 'grandparent' of all plans for Colchester and fundamental to delivering an ambitious and exciting future for 2020 and beyond. The keynote speaker was Professor Jules Pretty from the University of Essex, who outlined why we should all be committed to carbon reduction.

Notes to editors

David Frost is the Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce, the national voice of local business. The BCC represents over 100,000 businesses through a network of 57 Accredited Chambers of Commerce and its role is to promote the interests of British Business and the Chambers of Commerce.

As Enterprise Editor of the Sunday Times, Rachel Bridge has interviewed hundred of successful entrepreneurs for her weekly column 'How I made it' which is now published in two books. As a result of her experiences, Rachel is well qualified to identify the vital ingredients needed to succeed in business today.