Local Business Profile: Events 720
Leon Mortimer is the Managing Director at Events 720 and has lived in Melton South for 5 years. He thinks it is important to keep jobs in the area and says one of the best way the Atherstone community can do this is by supporting local small businesses, something he also tries to do within his signage and display production company.
How was your signage company, Events 720, created?
Events 720 was set up in August of 2015. After working in the events and exhibitions industry for almost 10 years I could see the potential in the market and could understand where there were gaps – I decided to provide products that the market needed.
Why did you decide to move into Western BACE at Atherstone and what do you like about the space?
Initially Events 720 was a home-based business, however, after a few months we moved into the co-sharing space at Western BACE and then eventually into our first warehouse at Western BACE. As Events 720 grew we required more space, and which resulted in us leasing a second warehouse at Western BACE.
The co-sharing space is what initially attracted us to Western BACE. It is reasonably priced for a start-up business who has limited money to spend on leasing commercial space and there are fantastic resources at the Western BACE. There is a focus on providing help and mentoring and there are facilities such as the digital space and meeting rooms.
One of the best things for us about Western BACE at Atherstone is the location. Being close to home, but also having easy access to freeways, is quite crucial for our business. The location of the Western BACE has been perfect.
In addition to the production services we offer we also provide design, event management and project management services, so the high quality, reliable NBN connections in Atherstone have made it possible for us to utilise cloud-based applications that keep costs down and capabilities high.
Where is your favourite place to grab lunch or a coffee around Atherstone?
Urban 35 located at Western BACE – their food is delicious and they provide a good variety of lunch options.
Why is it important for the Atherstone community to support local small businesses?
It is important for residents of Atherstone to support local small business because it helps keep jobs in the area. Keeping small businesses alive means that they can keep growing and can employ more local people. For us, we have recently hired two more staff members, one who lives locally in Melton South and one who lives in neighbouring Hillside.
We work with many different companies and, where possible, we try to use locally based companies. We have engaged the local carpet company for the flooring for our stands and we use a small hardware business for supplies where possible. We also engage with multiple companies for the finishing touches for our stands such as graphics and speciality finishes.
Most of our staff live in the Western Suburbs and there are a few of us that live in Melton South. I’ve lived in Melton South for 5 years and one of our staff members has just moved to the suburb. The best thing about living in the area is seeing it change and develop as it grows. Even in the short amount of time that I have lived here there has been a lot of development and money spent to increase and maintain facilities. As a fast-growing municipality, this is a necessity, and it’s good to see that it’s happening.