Nearly 100 businesses and organisations in the Portsmouth city region have taken part in the largest conference of its kind to be held locally.

Among the highlights of the showcase event, aimed at championing the area as the region’s premier business hub, was an interactive business barometer which gauged how they felt the local economy was doing.

The business champions conference at 1000 Lakeside, North Harbour, was organised on behalf of City Growth by The Partnership, an organisation covering Portsmouth and South East Hampshire.

City Growth chairman Mike Davidson, who is the retail operations director of Gunwharf Quays owner Land Securities, said after the event: “City Growth is an agent for change and we were bowled over by the level of interest, both from participants and the media.

“The aim is to get as many of the 6,500 businesses in the region to turn their passion into prosperity, and the event was part of that evolving process.

“There is already a strong sense of civic pride locally, even before Portsmouth’s historic FA Cup victory, and the conference was proof that a lot of business leaders are keen to showcase all the great things happening.”

Chris Allington, the new chairman of The Partnership, told the conference: “When a salesman comes through the door and gives you bad news, you won’t buy from him. If he tells you the benefits, you will buy – and keep on buying.

“That’s what we need to do for the Portsmouth city region – highlight the benefits of doing business here. The only obstacles are in our minds.”

Mr Allington, the joint managing director of Fasset, which operates Langstone Technology Park, Havant, where 3,700 people work for 17 companies, was one of three keynote speakers to share stories about business success and opportunities.

Malcolm Snowdon, the managing director of Spur Electron in Havant, was the second. The engineering and manufacturing company started life in a potting shed at Langstone in 1982 and serves the space industry and high-reliability engineering markets, with a core customer base of 15 companies.

Malcolm Miller, the managing director of Portsmouth-based Raymarine, was the third. Raymarine develops and distributes a full range of hi-tech navigational equipment for the leisure market and employs 325 permanent staff.

Business champion speeches were also given by George Brittain, the general manager of The News, and Carl Leroy-Smith, an architect with Deer Park Alpha.

 Deborah Owen-Ellis-Clark, the marketing director at Gunwharf Quays, showed how businesses can utilise City Growth’s online Image Toolkit, which has case studies, testimonials, facts and figures, as a promotional tool.

The business barometer, where the audience cast their vote interactively on a range of questions, generated a number of interesting observations.

Asked if the credit crunch will have an impact on the city region, the majority verdict was “slight impact”.

A question about whether their companies were concerned about the prospect of an economic downturn met with the majority answer of “not concerned at all”.

The environment, location and lifestyle topped the three attributes that this area has to offer businesses, while innovation and entrepreneurship are the most important drivers for growth.

Voters also said leadership and management were the skills most needed to make their organisations more successful, and the key to growth in the local economy was through expanding local markets.

Transport and infrastructure were identified as barriers to growth, along with calls for better support for start-ups.

City Growth figures show that there are 59 new firm start-ups for every 10,000 employees compared to England’s average of 72.

Mr Davidson said: “The business barometer was not an exact science but it showed that dozens of businesses and organisations locally feel positive about the local economy going forward.”

•    To find out how your business can utilise the Image Toolkit for free click on to www.citygrowthportsmouth.co.uk

For more details contact Martin Dennison, Executive Director, The Partnership, on 023 9289 9730 or Ron Wain of Deep South Media on 07824 355523 or 01202 534487.