Suppliers get face time with industry leaders at chamber event

More than 50 major businesses looked to strike deals with local suppliers during an event designed to boost trade within the regional economy.

Norfolk Chamber of Commerce hosted about 200 suppliers at Carrow Road, Norwich, yesterday for the Meet the Buyer event, which featured industry-leading firms from the EDP Top 100 including Lotus, Seajacks, Bernard Matthews, Kinnerton, Perenco and Kier.

As well as one-to-one sessions with the buyers, it also hosted a series of workshops on how suppliers can sell to different sectors.

Theses included talks by Clarke Willis, group chief executive of Anglia Farmers; Graeme Smith procurement surveyor at Kier; Sally Moore, project manager at Build Norfolk; Craig Thomson, accounts development executive of Achilles FPAL; Mark Goodall, board member LEP and area manager of Aker Solutions; and Al Collier, head of procurement at Norfolk County Council.

Caroline Williams, chief executive of the Norfolk Chamber of Commerce, said: 'Last year the buyers came to see what was on offer locally, but this year they made a shopping list of what they needed to buy.

'All of them are looking locally first to see if they can get it here in Norfolk before looking outside of the region.

'For suppliers, it offers them the chance to get recognised and matched with a big business.

'What the buyers really want is firms that are new and different. They don't really care about the size of the business – and that is the message that we want to get across.'