Tom Wenham speaks at Yorkshire Gold Business Club Conference
- Jan 31, 2012
On January 19th Sportworks Director Tom Wenham was chosen to speak at the "The Biggest Sporting Events of our Time", an event organised by UKTI and The Yorkshire Gold Business Club.
The conference was held at Bramall Lane (Sheffield United FC Football Stadium), and was designed to help businesses in Yorkshire discover the potential to reach new markets. Yorkshire Gold Business Club Manager, Lauren Pigg said of the event "Hosting this event in Sheffield was a good opportunity for local businesses to find out more about the wide range of contracts available. The information provided at the conference will help businesses benefit from global sporting events, just as Sportworks have successfully done".
Delegates heard from locally based, Sportworks, to discover how they have won work on a global sporting event. Sportworks won the contract to provide event management services for the ISSF World Cup, part of the London Prepares series of events which is being used as the official sports testing programme in the build-up to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.Tom Wenham of Sportworks said: “Our strength as a business lies in our ability to tailor our services to meet the needs of our clients and partners. We don’t walk in with the attitude ‘We’re Sportworks, this is how it should be done!’ That wouldn't work and it isn't our style or philosophy. You need to be flexible and take on board the different nuances of competing in sport or country, and that is exactly what we do.”
Presentations were designed to help companies interested in developing business specifically in Russia and Brazil. UKTI discussed the sporting opportunities available and advised companies on partnering, joint ventures and how to have a local presence.
When asked about Sportworks involvement with UKTI & Yorkshire Gold Business Club, Tom added: “We’re travelling to Brazil in February with UKTI to get a feel for what it’s all about. We’ve also signed up for the Passport To Export programme to establish contacts with potential Brazilian business partners, undertake a communications review, develop our international strategy and benefit from the direct support of an expert trade advisor.” It’s far from being a case of turning our back on the UK, but there are a number of opportunities overseas going forward and we need to be in the best possible shape to take advantage of them. It promises to be an exciting period ahead.”
As well as Tom conducting a fantastic presentation, delegates were also treated to an inspiring speech from double Olympic Gold medallist, Dame Kelly Holmes (pictured right). Dame Kelly spent around 30 minutes talking through her experiences as an elite athlete, as well as the opportunities that inevitably arise when a nation holds a major event.
Dame Kelly and Tom were joined at Bramall Lane by UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) Regional Director Mark Robson, Yorkshire Gold Business Club (YGBC) Manager Lauren Pigg as well as Andrew Bacchus, Jon Tibbs, Chris Wall and Simon Bedford all from the UKTI team.
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