I would like to wish all members of Nottingham Partners a happy and peaceful Christmas and festive season, and good fortune and good health in 2023. Thank you also for your support over the last 12 months and for helping to make our programme of events in 2022 so relevant and so successful.
Without referring to all of the events that took place in 2022, including another very successful annual dinner kindly sponsored by Eversheds Sutherland, I would just mention the last three, namely our Devolution lunch, the breakfast launch of Digital Nottingham and our Christmas evening drinks reception.
The local devolution agenda is of pivotal importance to our local and regional economy, and it was great to see Cllrs Ben Bradley, leader of Nottinghamshire County Council, and David Mellen, leader of Nottingham City Council talking together to members about the plan, the programme for devolution and the projected impact on our local economy and the benefits to local people. Likewise, the launch of Digital Nottingham through the University of Nottingham’s new Castle Meadow campus promises to be a game-changer for our city and of great benefit within the local economy. Finally, it was great for members to get together informally at the City Ground last week with our friends at Nottingham Forest FC and to hear again from the club’s chairman Nicholas Randall KC, and to see the Nottingham Partners and Nottingham Forest logos side by side on the big screens pitch-side.
Nearly 800 guests in total attended our events throughout the year, many of them on several occasions. We are currently working on an exciting programme of events for 2023, the first of which is on 19 January and focuses on high growth companies in Nottinghamshire; invitations have been sent out. There is still time to influence the programme content for next year as we are always looking for input from members concerning topics they would like us to cover, so please be in touch with Natalie Williams about this, and let her know if you are keen to sponsor or host an event next year; it is a great way for members to raise their profile.
Remember also our fortnightly newsletter, which is available for members to share news about their businesses and views on matters of importance to them.
The Nottingham Partners membership has continued to grow in 2022 and we were delighted to welcome many more of Nottingham’s key businesses into membership (or in some cases back into membership). Welcome again to Castle Cavendish, KPMG, Nottingham Forest Football Club, Theatre Royal and Concert Hall, Freeths, Evelyn Partners, ARC Design Studio, GNA Surveyors, Faithful+Gould, Octavian Security UK, Shannon Healthcare and SF Recruitment. The team is delighted to have you join us and looks forward to working with you and with all members in 2023.
Finally, it has been great for Nottingham Partners to support Switch Up, founded by Marcellus Baz BEM, as our charity of the year in 2022. We heard from Marcellus about Switch Up’s work at an autumn lunch, and are pleased to have helped raise funds for this important local project over the course of the year. At a time when many people are struggling financially, and when many young people feel directionless and have little hope for their future, projects like Switch Up are able to step in and help through providing a warm space and a meal for many people as well as to support young people and help them find a future as good citizens through its mentoring programmes and sports coaching. It is a project that deserves support and I know that many members will be determined to continue working with Marcellus in 2023 and beyond, as am I.
My best wishes to all of you. See you in 2023.