BUSINESS owners in Northamptonshire got a unique opportunity to better understand how to grow their business as the Santander Corporate & Commercial Breakthrough Moments Box came to Northampton. The five-day festival in June consisted of free-to-attend masterclasses and focused events aimed at ambitious business owners and local entrepreneurs.
Seminars covered subjects such as The Future of Payments, which helped businesses ensure they are at the cutting edge of payments technology and offered valuable insight on ways to increase the bottom line.
BUSINESS owners in Northamptonshire got a unique opportunity to better understand how to grow their business as the Santander Corporate & Commercial Breakthrough Moments Box came to Northampton. The five-day festival in June consisted of free-to-attend masterclasses and focused events aimed at ambitious business owners and local entrepreneurs.
Seminars covered subjects such as The Future of Payments, which helped businesses ensure they are at the cutting edge of payments technology and offered valuable insight on ways to increase the bottom line. Another focused on Funding Options for High Growth Technology and was held in association with hi-tech local business Totalism to talk about its new aerodynamic testing facility.
The Box is a versatile space for people to meet and share ideas and expertise with a range of stakeholders. Santander partnered with easyJet to provide a session offering unique insight into the international growth trajectory of one of the UK’s most well-known brands. Sophie Dekkers, UK Market Director at easyJet, gave a talk on how the company has been exploring new international markets and revenue streams, and discussing how businesses can apply some of the lessons learnt.
Sophie Dekkers, UK Market Director at easyJet, said: “It’s nearly 20 years since easyJet launched its first flight between Luton and Glasgow, and since then we’ve built the leading business model in short-haul European aviation, carrying 65 million passengers last year. easyJet has been the enabler for business across Europe, opening up access to markets and offering frequency on key routes allowing people to travel there and back in a day. The price of a return from Luton to Glasgow is the same as it was 20 years ago. We were delighted to partner with Santander as part of their Corporate & Commercial Breakthrough Moments event in Northampton.”
With exports and international trade a major focus for businesses in the UK, the Box contained Santander Corporate & Commercial’s International Trade desk. Visitors were able to use and experience the Santander Trade Portal, a unique online tool that allows businesses to discover and better understand which global markets provide the biggest opportunity for their business – and how to enter those markets. The Box also showcases Santander’s Growth Capital lending programme, aimed specifically at helping business owners and entrepreneurs to fast-track growth.
Peter O’Gorman, Regional Director, Home Counties at Santander Corporate & Commercial, said: “I’m pleased that we could bring this event to the centre of Northampton and the region. The region is known for entrepreneurial activities and the development of fast growth and ambitious businesses. Santander is committed to helping UK businesses prosper. As a scale challenger, we believe that we are bringing a unique approach to help British businesses – and the Breakthrough Moments Box is a tangible part of our ambition to help businesses in the Northamptonshire to achieve their own growth ambitions.”
Santander Corporate & Commercial has seen growth in customer lending of 18 per cent over the past 12 months in the Northamptonshire region. Northampton was the ninth venue for the Breakthrough Moments Box programme, which is touring key towns and cities in the UK throughout 2015.
A full breakdown of the events and further information can be found at www.santandercb.co.uk/content/northampton-breakthrough-box-live-event