Bristol is a great place to grow a business but it needs to shout more about its successes, according to the Festival of Female Entrepreneurs (FFE) panel debate on the Great Western Powerhouse.
The city has a great support network with its universities keen to help fledgling businesses. It is also a very creative city with its own ‘micro-climate’ which is not influenced by London, the audience heard. 
However, it was “its own worst enemy” at promoting itself with people in different sectors often not talking to each other.
Making up the Great Western Powerhouse panel were Nadia Abdulla, founder of Bristol-based Park Street Events and creator of Park on Park Street who now runs Experience Factory; Louise Mitchell, chief executive of Colston Hall and Tara Gillam, head of enterprise at Business West, which runs Bristol Chamber of Commerce and the Bristol Initiative.
Louise Mitchell, who moved to Bristol from Glasgow, said from a cultural perspective there was a lot going on in the city but it had never been good at spreading the message.
“I’ve been here four years and it’s exceeded my expectations,” she said. “But Bristol has always been a successful city and the weather’s nicer than Glasgow. But there’s not a hunger here to get things done. Glasgow had to pull itself up.”
Nadia said the city had a great network of business support organisations but many young people still felt they needed to move to London at the beginning of their career.
However, Tara said people always returned to Bristol to continue their career. She said organisations such as Invest Bristol & Bath, the area’s inward investment agency, was doing a good job of promoting it as a place to live, work and grow a business.
The panel session was chaired by Enterprise Nation head of content Dan Martin.
