It was standing room only at the Trent Bridge launch yesterday [May 17] of ProCon Nottinghamshire, the new business network for people and companies in the county’s property and construction sectors.
More than 230 people attended the breakfast event at Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club (NCCC), which marked the birth of the network created by and for people with a professional interest in the built environment.
ProCon Nottinghamshire chair Will Cursham, from the law firm Gateley Plc, invited everyone at the launch to join what is set to be a flourishing network to connect people and businesses with each other.
The member-led initiative is modelled on the 18-year-old ProCon Leicestershire, which has almost 600 members drawn from more than 130 companies from across Leicestershire.
ProCon Nottinghamshire is confident it can grow to a similar size by attracting developers, architects, surveyors, engineers, agents, consultants, investors, bankers, accountants, solicitors, local authorities and more.
Will said: “It’s wonderful to see so many faces at the launch of ProCon Nottinghamshire. It shows there is a huge appetite and we invite everyone to join us on this journey.”
People and organisations can join as members via the network’s website – procon-nottinghamshire.co.uk – and then register for the next event, at Nottingham Trent University on July 5, and the following gathering at Trent Basin on September 20.
The inaugural event heard from Mark Hobson of Maber Architects about its decades of work at Trent Bridge, including the current creation of a new media centre and restaurant atop the Radcliffe Road Stand.
Mark said: “We were hoping 100 people might attend this launch of ProCon Nottinghamshire, so to have more than doubled that is very encouraging.”
The three-year Radcliffe Road project will be complete in time for Trent Bridge’s summer England-Australia one-day international on June 19.
NCCC chief executive Lisa Pursehouse said: “It’s amazing how many of you are here. Thank you for coming. It’s great to see so many people in the industry together.”
ProCon Nottinghamshire was initiated by a cross-industry steering group led by Will Cursham Gateley Plc. Other members come from Botham Accounting, BSP Engineering, Cartwright Communications, Gleeds, Grace Machin, igloo Regen, Innes England, Invest in Nottingham, Keepmoat Homes, Maber, Natwest, NTU, Saxondale Properties and Willmott Dixon.
Membership for 2018 costs £64 for individuals, £200 for organisations and £280 for large corporates (all plus VAT). The minimum of four events per year can form part of professionals’ CPD (Continuing Professional Development).
Members will have exclusive access to the online membership directory, enabling them to make new contacts across the sector, and businesses can promote themselves by posting news stories on the website.
