On Thursday 23rd of October the Xcel Centre at Aycliffe hosted the 7th Durham Oktoberfest – the North East’s Premier Engineering & Manufacturing Exhibition.  The event had over 119 exhibitors with the additional opportunity to meet buyers from key regional and UK organisations, plus, the new addition of Meet the Funder.
The aim of the event is to create opportunities for companies to showcase their capabilities, make new contacts, network and more importantly win and secure new business. Around 1,500 people attended this year and the feedback on the day was excellent with many of the exhibitors already re-booking for 2015.  The event is coordinated by the Engineering Forums across County Durham which includes South, North and East Durham with the support of Business Durham.
This year we were lucky to secure two high profile speakers, Paul Watts – Joint MD of the AMA Group based in Peterlee and Mike Matthews (MBE) – Managing Director & European Operations Officer at Nifco.
Both speakers presented compelling messages regarding the opportunities and strength of North East businesses.  However, Mr Matthews also urged companies to focus on the supply of skills and talent to support our growth and ambitions for the future.
Darren Race, chairman of South Durham Engineering & Manufacturing Forum (SDEMF) and project lead for the event said, “This year’s event has once again been incredibly successful with many of the exhibitors re-booking on the day. It’s still early but we know that some of the exhibitors have already had strong indication of new business and these and wider opportunities will result as they follow-up from the day.  We are already planning for 2015 so if you’re interested in taking part then you need to register your interest early.”  To find out more visit www.durhamoktoberfest.org.uk | email info@durhamoktoberfest.org.uk Tel: 0191 303 7772.

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County Councillor Neil Foster, Darren Race and Simon Goon of Durham Business

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