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Leicester Business Festival's impact on partnership firms

Attendee feedback and partner experience.

A long shot of business people sat in the middle of a shopping centre with a speaker on stage
A Leicester Business Festival event taking place in Highcross Shopping Centre

Leicester Business Festival has been the pinnacle of the local corporate calendar for eight years.


This year, it's supported by some big names including De Montfort University, Pattersons Commercial Law, University of Leicester, Everards of Leicestershire, The Sir Thomas White Loan Charity, Leicester Hospitals Charity and TheMusicLicence, by PPL PRS Ltd.


Helen Donnellan, Director of Research and Enterprise at De Montfort University and LBF partner, said: “At DMU we are incredibly proud to play our part in enabling the festival to happen which has a positive impact on the community and businesses.

“As a partner we have experienced lots of positive outputs thanks to the festival including the implementation of a region wide programme to increase diversity among business leaders.

“Additionally with the university being a major part of the festival we can showcase the potential talent pipeline in our courses, expertise and students that could help businesses meet their future requirements.”

Seven businesspeople stand in a row in front of a Leicester Business Festival backdrop
Helen Donnellan (centre)

Funded entirely by the business community, Leicester Business Festival (LBF) continues to evolve and develop, playing an integral role in the annual business calendar and helping businesses far and wide.

With the ongoing support from businesses, LBF has enabled Leicester and Leicestershire to promote itself from a central platform to the local, national, and international community.


A surge in technology, professional services and advanced manufacturing is attracting more people, companies, and investors than ever before. And with some of the best universities and colleges, there’s a talent pipeline here to meet future needs.


Feedback from LBF 2022 showed that 98% of businesses rated the events they attended as ‘good to excellent’ and 92% said that the festival had already had a positive impact on their business.


For around 38% of the businesses, this was the first time they have been involved with the festival and 21% of attendees were from outside the area.


Pattersons Commercial Law based in Leicester and Nottingham has an experienced team of corporate lawyers (Rik Pancholi) advises clients on a broad range of corporate transactions and provides specialist corporate legal services to businesses throughout the UK.


They are regulars in partnering with Leicester Business Festival as they understand that people and business relationships are integral to growth and success.

Rik Pancholi, Managing Director of Pattersons Commercial Law and LBF partner, said: “Leicester Business Festival (LBF) is not to miss out on. We have had a key role in supporting the Leicester Business Festival for five years for two main reasons.


"Firstly, the festival network has grown and evolved year on year which means we as a business connect with new people and reconnect with people from all types of business areas.

“Secondly, for Pattersons Commercial Law we want to contribute and support the wider business economy.


"Leicester is consistently ranked as one of the best places to start a business in the UK so the festival is a place where different businesses can successfully learn together.”


The LBF team works with all partners, providing support and advice for everything from event ideas and guidance with the application form to help on how to market and promote their events.

To discuss LBF partnership packages, contact Ian Morris on im@associate-events.com.

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