Devon's business community turned out in force to showcase their products and services and make new connections at a major event in Exeter.
Hundreds of people from around the county and beyond flocked to the Matford Centre for the Devon Business Expo 2014 on Thursday, June 5.
A busy programme of seminars gave visitors a chance to find out about everything from how to grow their businesses to the latest technology and advice on social media.
And there were plenty of networking opportunities, with the exhibition playing host to Exeter Chamber of Commerce's monthly lunch.
Dave Barr, managing director of event organisers theBestofExeter, was delighted with the turnout.
"It's gone really well – there's certainly a buzz around the room and we have already rebooked a number of exhibitors for next year," he said.
"Today is all about showing the diverse businesses in Exeter and Devon, putting them on the map and getting them talking to each other."
More than 900 visitors pre-registered for the Expo and 72 businesses were exhibiting. Among them were Web Wise Media, whose founder Dan Wiseman was named Young Entrepreneur of the Year at the 2014 Express & Echo Business Awards.
"This is the first exhibition we have exhibited at," said Dan. "I have gone along to a lot before, mostly for networking, but I wanted to give it a try because we're having a marketing push and it's been really useful.
"I have met a lot of other businesses where there are potential opportunities for us to work in partnership. We are also launching a new product at the moment so we have been talking to people about that today and have had a lot of positive feedback."
Matt Young, of Cosmic Ethical IT, said: "We are here with Connecting Devon & Somerset to make people aware that superfast broadband is rolling out and our job is to show people what you can do with it.
"We have had a steady stream of people coming up to the stand and we have been pleasantly surprised at how busy we have been."
Seminars were led by local businesses including GHQ Training, Thermalogica, Crispin Associates, Basepoint Business Centres and Q Social Media.
Business people also had a chance to quiz a panel of local media representatives, including Express & Echo production editor Ed Oldfield and Paul Nero, director of Radio Exe.
