PLANS are well under way for the 2017 Daily Echo-backed South Coast Business Works and today we can reveal the first speaker.

He is Brad Roynon, the man who chaired the Go! Southampton steering committee which ran the campaign to persuade city centre businesses to vote for a Business Improvement District (BID).

The BID which will come into being in April is expected to raise around £1m by collecting an extra one per cent in rates from businesses with a rateable value in excess of £15,000 in the BID area.

The cash will be spent on improvements to cleanliness and security as well as organising and promoting more events to increase footfall and visitor “dwell time” in the city centre.

Brad has worked in the NHS and in local government, having been chief executive of three local authorities, including Southampton City Council, over a period of 22 years.

Over this time the importance of working with business to support economic growth has been of increasing significance.

The title of his talk is “Business Growth through Business Improvement Districts (BIDs)”.

In this presentation, Brad will draw on his experiences of the Southampton BID project to argue that together businesses across sectors can come together and create ways of tackling challenges that constrain business success.

The event will take place at the Novotel Southampton, on Wednesday, February 1, from 10am to 4pm.

Trethowans Solicitors are back on board for the fifth year as principal sponsors of Business Works alongside event partners Hampshire Chamber of Commerce and Destination Southampton.

Great rates on exhibitor packages are also available – call 023 8042 4872 or email businessworks@dailyecho.co.uk to find out more.