This month saw me attend a conference which included over 150 quality certified business and innovation centres.
The EBN conference is a community of professionals whose day-to-day work guides these businesses to grow in the most effective and efficient way, delivering sustainable impact.
After receiving our accreditation process 20 years ago the BIC is the only organisation to be apart of the EBN from the North East.
I must confess I was slightly apprehensive at attending such a vast conference but I became aware of just how our BIC is critically important to the region helping to improve productivity and create jobs but this gathering of literally hundreds of other BICS made me see the wider scope of how BICs from all over Europe can learn and share best practices.
The focus for this year’s conference was all about young entrepreneurship and interestingly as I listened I discovered that eight out of 10 jobs in the EU are generated by SMEs.
I left the conference feeling motivated and inspired and I can’t wait to get started on new projects here at the BIC with a lot more involvement in European projects.