By ELLEN READ
Last month's Business Expo for small and medium-sized businesses will be repeated next year after the event was declared a success by exhibitors and the organisers.
About 3200 people visited the Auckland Showgrounds to hear more than 30 presentations, four keynote speakers and to see exhibitions from a range
of industries.
Sarah Trotman, director of expo organiser Spring Group, said she was thrilled with the response from exhibitors and visitors.
More than half the exhibitors had said they wanted to participate in next year's expo.
"So much business was done over the three days," Trotman said.
Many exhibitors had made back their costs for the three-day expo before the end of the first day.
"It was exciting to hear from business owners that we had succeeded in creating a useful environment for them.
"We met many business owners who said they were re-energised from spending a few hours with our exhibitors."
Visitors were able to learn how to better manage their businesses and deal with issues such as payroll, debt collection, mobile phone pricing plans, marketing and business development, she said.
The Business Expo will again be held at the Auckland Showgrounds next year from May 19 to 21, and will be a three hall show. Prime spots are already being booked.
Trotman also said that with the success of the Business Expo, Spring's vision of creating a permanent business mall and hub for small to medium-sized enterprise was closer to coming to fruition.
The plan is for a $28 million business mall housing small and medium-sized business providers and information.
"The focus is to build a one-stop-shop shopping mall for business," Trotman said. "Retail, education and outsourcing are the three key issues we're going to address."
* For further information, contact Sarah Trotman at sarah.trotman@spring.co.nz
