A NEW business conference to inspire Yorkshire businesses to grow takes place in Ilkley in September.

The team behind the new ‘Thrive Yorkshire’ conference is confident, that what it has to offer, makes it stand out from the crowd.

The conference, being held on September 25 at The Craiglands Hotel, is designed to give businesses the tools, not only to grow, but to thrive.

It is offering practical tips, ideas and advice that can be implemented as soon as you walk out the door.

"If you think back to the last time you went to a conference, you probably exchanged and picked up copious business cards, took away freebies and was wowed by the speakers who have made millions or run large multimillion pound organisations." said Vera Woodhead, chairwoman of the Ilkley Business Forum, who are subsidising and sponsoring the event.

"You probably left inspired and buzzing with ideas and good intentions. Then what did you do with them? Did you use them to make a tangible difference to your business? Most people would say not.

“Our conference is different. It is a learning event, equipping businesses with the practical tools, strategies and tips that will help them to make a difference in their businesses. It will offer structured opportunities for delegates to network, connect and build meaningful relationships throughout the day. The environment is geared towards sharing of good ideas and practice and will be hugely relevant to businesses in Yorkshire."

There will be ten speakers on the day, who will be sharing their expertise on a wide range of topics. These include keynote speaker Nigel Lockett, Professor of Enterprise at Leeds University Business School who will be discussing “Understanding when a good idea is a business opportunity”.

Additional speakers include Haroon Rashid from Khemeia Consulting on “How I generated £150k of leads on social media for free!”, Andrew Parascandolo from Avery Walters speaking about "Managing all forms of sickness so you can focus on growing your business” and Andrew Seaton on how he grew his award-winning business, Resolve.

Other topics include Ilkley based Approach PR.

Thrive Yorkshire is September 25 from 9am – 5pm at The Craiglands Hotel, Ilkley, LS29 8RQ.

For more information on becoming an exhibitor/sponsor or on attending the event, go to thriveyorkshire.co.uk or contact ‘Thrive Yorkshire’ on info@thriveyorkshire.co.uk, tel 01943 430001. For updates on Twitter follow @thriveyorkshire and on Facebook at facebook.com/thriveyorkshire