Over 50 local businesses enjoyed a full day of innovation-themed seminars organised by business solutions specialists Mass as part of their Business Solutions Open Day.
On Wednesday 9th September, Innovation House became Information House; providing an ideal learning environment for groups of professionals to network, discuss and develop their understanding of the present and future challenges facing their organisations.
The day, attended and led by Member of Parliament for Wokingham, John Redwood, provided an ideal platform for businesses in the Thames Valley and beyond to learn from industry experts about a range of topical issues. These included Health and Safety legislation, IT data management, options and benefits of outsourcing core-business functions, how to cut costs across your business, HR best practice, and environmental sustainability.
Town Mayor of Wokingham, Cllr. UllaKarin Clark and the Mayor of the Borough of Bracknell Forest, Cllr. Bob Wade, attended alongside John Redwood and participated in a range of the free seminars on offer throughout the day. Cllr. Clark said, “I should like to congratulate Mass for organising an extremely informative Open Day. No effort was spared to ensure that visitors were fully briefed on a wide range of topics ranging from Health and Safety to Information Technology matters, including the importance of the development and distribution of Mass’s high quality facilities management software. Wokingham is both pleased and proud that Mass decided to move its operation to Wokingham. Wokingham needs inward investment and we hope the example set by Mass will lead to further commercial growth for our Town.”
The keynote speech, delivered prior to a complimentary lunch, was presented by John Redwood who discussed the value of innovation, critical during these challenging times. He explained how “Innovation can lead the recovery, Innovation can give you something good to sell, Innovation can bring you pride, Innovation can produce the unique selling proposition your customer wants. Businesses need to innovate to survive. They need intelligent management and good software support.”
Those attending left with a great deal of business knowledge relating to better management approaches and potential solutions to help support SME’s to grow their business through the recession into a successful 2010. Everyone received welcome gifts courtesy of Mass and their business partners: Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce, the Federation of Small Businesses and the Institute of Directors. Presenters included Wokingham Borough Council, discussing IT management and data security best practice, the International Facility Management Association provided a case study on Microsoft, whilst Milan Solutions discussed the necessity of IT Governance, Risk and Compliance.
David Bolt, Chairman of Mass, was instrumental in guiding activities throughout the day and directed guests to the Champagne networking session at the close of business. He said of the day “Mass provides a range of business solutions to assist businesses of all sizes and expertise. The day was managed in conjunction with our business partners to enable the local business community to benefit from the expertise of business professionals from every domain, and contribute to the sharing of best practice. One of the core aims was to help businesses grow during these challenging times.”
Mass moved to Wokingham in May and has already established itself as an active member of the business scene, hosting various events and supporting a range of local networking activities.
John Redwood reflected on the day by saying that “it was good to meet a number of local businesses at Mass, and to talk about how innovation could let people do things better. I was pleased to learn that Mass had chosen Wokingham for its new offices and wish them every success here.”