Scores of business leaders across the South are set to attend a special business growth summit being held in Southampton.
They will hear a keynote speech by Fran Millar, one of the founding members of Team Sky Pro Cycling and now Head of Winning Behaviours at Team Sky.
The event, which takes place at St Mary’s Stadium from 5pm to 8pm on Thursday, October 2, promotes business growth in the region, with an update on regional trends and issues for firms.
Hosts for the one-off summit are four companies with a strong operational presence in the city region -, Santander Corporate and Commercial Bank, accountancy and investment management group Smith & Williamson, commercial property consultancy Hughes Ellard and law firm Trethowans.
Team Sky, under the forensic oversight of Sir David Brailsford, made winners of Bradley Wiggins, Chris Froome, Chris Hoy and Laura Trot.
Fran will talk about building a winning team and the performance principles of Team Sky Pro Cycling.
Her speech will acknowledge challenges as well – Team Sky had a difficult Tour de France this July following two consecutive years when Wiggins and Froome stood on the winner’s podium in Paris in the coveted yellow jersey.
Fran said: “I’m looking forward to sharing insights with delegates at the summit as there are many similarities in sporting performance and running a good business.
“These include attention to every detail, marginal gains which can give you the competitive edge, efficiencies, organisation and the importance of psychology on a personal and team basis.”
Presentations will also be held by the following:
Barry Naisbitt, an economist with Santander, looks at current trends in the economy from an international, national and local perspective and what this means for companies looking to grow.
Simon Rhodes, Chairman of Future Southampton Board and Managing Partner at Trethowans, focuses on how business and the public sector can collaborate better in the Solent to help growth and prosperity.
Gary Jeffries, Chairman of Solent Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and Managing Director at Hughes Ellard, speaks about LEP’s role in creating the conditions in which business can flourish, including the availability of grant funding opportunities.
Geraldine Buckland, Head of HR Consulting at Smith & Williamson, reflects on the current state of the jobs market in the region, where there is a skills gap and what jobs we will need in the future to ensure growth.
The summit comes as Britain emerges from what is reportedly the longest recovery from recession recorded since the South Sea Bubble in 1720.
It has taken a record 76 months – just over six years – to regain the output lost since the global financial crisis in 2008, compared to four years or less in all previous comparable recessions.
