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Digital City Festival 2020

GC Business Growth Hub and the Growth Company are proud to be supporting Digital City Festival 2020, which takes place in Manchester on 9-13 March. 

The festival celebrates the North’s booming digital economy, with five days of events all across Manchester. At its core is Digital City Expo, a two-day exhibition and conference at Manchester Central. The expo will feature a range of leading exhibitors from across marketing, eCommerce, tech, media and more. 

Over 60 industry speakers have already been announced, representing companies such as Unilever, Dept, the BBC, Co-op, Accenture, EY, AO.com and Tech Nation. Registration is open now at digitalcityfestival.com/register.

The week kicks off on Monday 9 March, when the Growth Company is running a fringe event at The Studio in the Northern Quarter: Going Global – Digital Tools for International Growth. This half-day session is aimed at business-to-business SMEs – whether starting up or scaling up – who want to supercharge their growth. 

At the centre of the event is a 90-minute training session in partnership with Google Digital Garage, ‘Scale Your Brand and Advertise Across Borders’. 

There’ll also be speeches from Tom Dixon, e-commerce specialist at the Department for International Trade, Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham and the Growth Company’s Director of Business Growth, Richard Jeffery, as well as an interactive debate featuring inspirational panellists who’ll share their experiences, good and bad, of going global. 

Nikki Le-Grys, International Trade Development Manager at the Hub, said: “The most important thing that we say to business leaders – and hear from them – is that you need to spend time working on the business, not just in the business. This half-day workshop really gives entrepreneurs, founders and executives that space to hear first-hand from others on their experiences of trading globally, and to gain valuable insight on how they can grow their business overseas. 

REGISTER HERE FOR THE FRINGE EVENT

On 11-12 March, GC Business Growth Hub will be at the Expo at Manchester Central, where we’re sponsoring the eCommerce Theatre. Please do come to visit us at stand 260 to find out more about how our specialist support can help your business.  

And make sure you make a note in your dairy for a Q&A with Maginus CEO Simon Weeks (eCommerce Theatre: 11 March, 1.40-2.05pm) titled, ‘Getting Acquired from Across the Pond: How Maginus stood out from the crowd’ and hosted by Sarah Novotny, Digital, Creative and Tech Lead at the Hub. 

Maginus, a leading OMS and ecommerce business, has just been acquired by Finnish developer Digital Goodie, who in turn are backed by US private equity firm Black Dragon Capital. Already a thriving £10 million turnover business that has seen excellent growth over recent years, it has managed to stand out from the crowd and, with a little help and guidance along the way, attract and secure this overseas interest. Find out how the business got to this point.  

It is preceded by ‘We Do Things Digitally Here’ (11 March, 1.20pm), where Richard Jeffery looks at the opportunities for digital, creative and tech businesses in a sector that is growing faster than ever, as well as the wealth of expertise available to support Greater Manchester’s SMEs right here on their doorstep.

REGISTER HERE FOR DIGITAL CITY EXPO

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