Businesses come together with 601 days to go until City of Culture 2013

With 601 days to go until City of Culture 2013 kicks off, last night, the business community came together in the Millennium Forum Derry-Londonderry to show their support. The highly successful event ran by Culture Company 2013 and the Londonderry Chamber of Commerce. ‘City of Culture: Corporate Engagement Update', sponsored by BT provided businesses with the opportunity to engage with the 2013 team and learn more about the opportunities for involvement in the City's year of Culture.

The evening began with a stunning performance from the City's own Meadbh McGinley, with the official City of Culture anthem ‘Just Say Yes' which she first performed as part of the Voices DVD, the short film which was presented as part of the winning pitch to the panel in Liverpool in June last year.

Culture Company 2013's Chairperson, Martin Bradley and Chief Executive, Shona McCarthy both took to the stage giving the audience an overview of the progress of the company and the developing programme for the year. Shona shared her admiration and pride in Derry-Londonderry winning the accolade back in July. She addressed the crowd saying: "Culture Company is committed to delivering a programme that will enable everyone in the City to own and be a part of a programme that has the people and the City at its heart. Our focus must be on a lasting legacy for both the City and the community." She continued "The more support we can leverage from the corporate sector, the richer the programme will become."

Ryan Williams, Grafton Employment Group, provided an overview of the opportunities for involvement to give the businesses a clear picture of how exactly they can become involved in the lead up to and during the year of culture. Philip Gilliland, Vice President of Londonderry Chamber of Commerce told the audience "We are all ambassadors for the City and we, the business community need to think about how we will play our part to make this year a success."

James Devlin, Head of Business NI for BT rounded up the evening by telling the business people why BT has invested in the City. He commented; "Our investment in the North West is complimentary to all the hard work that we know is going on from everyone who has been involved with City of Culture and making the City a digital City. This vision aligns with our business growth strategy; therefore it was a pretty easy decision. In making Derry-Londonderry the first city in Ireland and one of the first in the UK to be 100% enabled with the fastest broadband available, we can work together to make a commercial gain and make the City more marketable for inward investment."

For anyone who missed the event it can be viewed HERE

it is also available for viewing online at www.cityofculture2013.com

The Presentation is available for download HERE