Newcastle Business in the Lymelight

Building on the success of last year’s Business Festival, the Borough once again pulled out all the stops to put Newcastle under Lyme’s business community in the spotlight.  Businesspeople came together to explore five notable business themes, across five days – Employment and Entrepreneurial spirit, Innovation and Sustainability, Networking, Women in Business and Creative and Digital Industries.

Lateral thinking and creative change were the key take aways from the opening guest speaker, Dr James Bannerman who delivered his talk to a reverent audience in a unifying spirit at St. Giles Church. The aisles then resonated with sound ideas on business growth, student engagement and unmeasured risks.

Keele University is an absolute bedrock of resource for business, and its Science and Innovation Park was the perfect place to discover how innovation is shaping the future of sustainability. From Cyber Security to Bamboo, after Tuesday’s sessions we were left in no doubt that Newcastle under Lyme is forging a sustainable future in the most innovative of ways.

Delegates strolled with confidence to the Lymelight Boulevard on Wednesday, where they joined interactive sessions to explore how to get the most out of networking, improve business pitching, build future skills and take advantage of free 1-1 digital consultations.

In the week that preceded the inauguration of the first female Archbishop of Canterbury, it seemed entirely fitting that the Festival’s Women in Business Day took place at St Giles Church. Port Vale Co-owner Carol Shanahan took to the pulpit to share PVFCs community work in female prisons, and some of the area’s most prominent female business leads shared their experiences, offered insights and gave practical advice.

The Festival concluded in the most cultural of ways in the town centre’s Guildhall, where we heard about the National Literacy Trust’s year of reading, the role of creative industries in placemaking, tried our hand at esports and enjoyed interludes from the City of Stoke-on-Trent Symphony Orchestra’s string quartet. Over at Keele In Town, freshly roasted coffee demonstrations by Piccolo proved the importance of a good brew in business, and this kept our focus sharp for the revelation of recommendations for strategic creative industries action plan.

The week-long 2026 Business Festival showcased Newcastle under Lyme as a great place to invest, live, work and build a business in. Perceptions were challenged, connections made, investments influenced and our unique blend of talents, connected in versatile venues, to recognise and celebrate the power and potential of Newcastle under Lyme’s business community.

The Business Festival is funded by Newcastle under Lyme Borough Council, the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and is delivered by PH Production Services who, alongside the core partners, called upon some fantastic keynote speakers, panels and hosts and went on to deal with all the intricacies of the event programming, web and app development and event production.

Thanks go to Geoff Beadle and the team at Newcastle Borough Council, Keele University, NSCG Newcastle College, Stoke-on-Trent & Staffordshire Growth Hub, Babababoon and of course our very own Connects Network, and to everyone who presented, hosted and participated in any way to make the week the success it was.

Want to keep the momentum going until the next Business Festival? Then come along to Connects Network monthly meet ups, in Newcastle under Lyme.

Video credit M3 Branding