Ealing Business Expo 2023 showing visitors walking around stands in the hall.
Ealing Business Expo 2023 showing visitors walking around stands in the hall.

University of West London hosts local entrepreneurs at Ealing Business Expo 2023

Intro

The University of West London hosted the biggest business event in the London Borough of Ealing – Ealing Business Expo – on Wednesday 8 March, providing an opportunity for hundreds of entrepreneurs and businesses of all shapes and sizes in Ealing to meet, connect, and network.

Main body

The event was the ninth edition of the Expo and was organised by Claude Littner Business School Associate Lecturer and Contactus Ealing Director, Carlene Bender. The event was attended by Mayor of Ealing, Cllr Mrs Mohinder Midha, Ealing Central and Acton MP, Dr Rupa Huq, local councillors, and Expo sponsors.

Carlene said:

We had an incredible buzz at the event. I was so proud to see these Ealing and West London businesses making the most of what Ealing Business Expo 2023 had to offer – may all their businesses grow and prosper.”  

The Expo played host to over 40 exhibitors, a variety of motivating seminars and business talks showcasing what support is available within the community to help businesses of all sizes. One of the main features of the Expo included an inspiring International Women’s Day (IWD) panel discussion featuring panellists, Dipna Anand, chef, author, entrepreneur, and UWL alumnus; Denitsa Minkova, financial advisor of Denitsa Minkova Wealth Management; and Dr Amelia Au-Yeung, Dean of the Claude Littner Business School.  

The theme for this year’s IWD was Embrace Equity, and the panel discussed what equity means and how it can be applied in all businesses.

Dipna said:

I can do the jobs just as well as the men can. Making everyone in your workplace and environment feel comfortable and understanding each other's needs all comes into how we embrace equity.” 

UWL’s Placement and Employability Services were able to communicate how they can support local businesses with the External Graduate Internship Scheme. Local businesses can apply for funding to get graduate interns between July and December of this year.

The University also hosted Innovate UK for our quarterly KTP Funding Sprint as part of the Expo. This seminar was aimed at researchers and Business interested in project funding.

Another key feature of the Expo included the competition for visitors to win half an hour in UWL’s FlightPad Simulator, which was won by Expo visitor, Cheryl Burke, who got to virtually fly to Sydney, Australia for the afternoon and experience takeoff and landing in a Boeing 737.

Cheryl said:

Ealing Business Expo has been absolutely brilliant. Today has been a great opportunity for me to meet new businesses and to understand what is available in the local community for my start-up. It’s been a really great experience.”

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