Adams Foodservice hosted the Business Leaders Roundtable at their new conference facility.
Collaboration and innovation are two crucial aspects of building a successful business. They become even more important for creating exciting, expansive opportunities for the local area.
Adams Foodservice, a leading food distribution company for catering and quick service restaurants throughout England hosted the Business Leaders Roundtable event on April 26. Their brand-new conference and training centre in Bradford saw representatives from a variety of Yorkshire businesses in attendance.
Organised by the Hamriyah Free Zone (HFZ) Authority based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in partnership with the Northern Asian Power Group, the purpose of the roundtable meeting was to discuss mutually beneficial trade opportunities.
We spoke to Mohammed Kola, finance director at Adams Foodservice, about the importance of such events for companies looking to foster international business relationships.
Q: Can you give us a little background detail about the Business Leaders Roundtable?
A: As part of the Northern Asian Power Group, one of our primary objectives is to encourage local businesses to forge strong trade links abroad. Providing a platform for guest speakers to unveil inspiring projects, and for local business leaders to share their thoughts, has been an extremely rewarding endeavour.
The HFZ, located within the Emirate of Sharjah, was established in 1995 and contains a wealth of lucrative opportunities and progressive enterprises. Being the second largest industrial free zone in the UAE and hosting over 6500 potential investors, the HFZ offers an excellent commercial framework for long-term sustainable growth.
Each company within Yorkshire plays a major role in the local economy, and we were fortunate to welcome representatives from a myriad of sectors. Every aspect of the roundtable event had the local community at the forefront, ensuring that Yorkshire-based companies go from strength to strength.
Q: How did Adams Foodservice prepare to host the roundtable?
A: Hosting such an important event required a venue that was fit for purpose. Our brand-new conference centre, which recently became fully operational as a training centre as well, became the heart of the guest speakers’ presentations, the working lunch and the follow-up discussions.
Adams Foodservice started out 1985, on a street corner in Bradford.
Over the past few decades, we’ve become the UK’s largest specialist catering company. Our nine outlets stock a wide range of chilled, frozen and ambient food products, and deliver to thousands of customers every week.
By showcasing our facilities, we aim to increase the satisfaction our clients and provide a hub for other local businesses to seek mutually beneficial partnerships.
Q: Why are such events integral for strengthening local industries?
A: As the first event of its kind within our facility, we hope that the Business Leaders Roundtable demonstrated the importance of looking beyond our borders for opportunities. The HFZ presents a great deal of scope for businesses willing to make the leap.
From vast stretches of warehouse space to close contact with an array of experienced consultants, Yorkshire-based companies from all sectors stand to benefit.
The industrial manufacturing park within the HFZ boasts over 30 million square miles of infrastructure, specifically engineered to support the steel, timber, telecommunications and appliance industries.
The food park provides an interface for a wide range of essential services, including food safety, storage, packaging and distribution. For growing tech startups and consultancy firms, the accelerator hub specialises in working with small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) operate seamlessly on a global scale.
Connecting Yorkshire businesses with such a comprehensive network of infrastructure is crucial to the overall development of the region.
Q: What makes Yorkshire such an attractive area for investment?
A: In recent years, Yorkshire has become of keen interest to overseas investors. The sheer variety of burgeoning businesses across the county, from pharmaceuticals to digital technology, has helped to keep Yorkshire at the top-end of investment destinations in the UK.
By building on events such as the Business Leaders Roundtable, we can ensure that Yorkshire remains a prime location for entrepreneurs and investors alike.
Adams Foodservice is proud to be working with organisations such as the Northern Asian Power Group to help raise the profile of businesses across the North of England. To find out more about Adams Foodservice, visit adamsfoodservice.com or call 01274 724444.
