Speaking at the inaugural meeting of the South East Business Leaders Forum, jointly hosted by DMH Stallard, Grant Thornton and HSBC, John Peel OBE, Chairman of the Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) highlighted the importance of internationalisation for businesses looking to achieve their growth potential. He commented, "export is one of the key multipliers in creating jobs and growth for the South East economy".
The Forum's launch was attended by senior executives from over 25 businesses across the South East. High profile speakers, John Peel OBE and Dennis Turner, Chief Economist at HSBC addressed delegates at Roffey Park Institute on 15 June 2011.
John described the structure of the Coast to Capital LEP and its goals to create 20,000 jobs and 4,500 new businesses in its area over the next five years by "ruthlessly" focusing on two key economic growth drivers; entrepreneurship and international trade. He went on to outline a few of the LEPs proposed initiatives which included young entrepreneurs sponsorships, creation of ‘"Enterprise Zones" use of private sector funding, transfer of best practice from Brighton's entrepreneurial community and broadband improvement in the region.
In his presentation on the UK economic outlook in 2011-12, Dennis Turner concurred with Peel’s comments on international trade, explaining the importance of strengthening exports and developing new customer bases as one of the drivers behind the recovery of the UK economy. Dennis anticipated that there would be slow, fragile and unequally distributed growth as the economy begins to recover. 
The South East Business Leaders Forum aims to provide a unique opportunity for like-minded leaders from mid-corporate, growing businesses in the region to share their ideas and experience as well as furthering business relationships and opportunities. If you would like to find out more information about this Forum, please contact Angela Rook at 01293 663512 or angela.rook@dmhstallard.com
For further press information please contact:
Angela Rook
Business Development Officer
Tel: 01293 663512
Email: angela.rook@dmhstallard.com
