Wayne Hemingway and Steph McGovern inspired businesses at a Superfast Summit

WAYNE Hemingway MBE and broadcaster Steph McGovern headlined an event that encouraged Newcastle businesses to make more of the internet to reach customers and boost the local economy.

Wayne, co-founder of Red or Dead and multi-disciplinary HemingwayDesign - was the keynote speaker at the Go Digital Newcastle Superfast Summit – an event to promote the funding and free support available as part of Go Digital Newcastle, a campaign to deliver superfast broadband to 97pc of the city by summer 2015.

TV journalist Steph hosted the event and shared anecdotes from across the country including companies struggling with slow internet speeds and employers across a range of sectors facing a digital skills shortage.

Wayne told a packed audience how he and his wife Gerardine began their business empire with a market stall on Camden Market - growing Red or Dead into a global brand and selling it 19 years later for a significant sum.

The 53-year-old addressed the issue of how the digital arena has since opened up a world of opportunities for businesses, and how he and Gerardine have used those opportunities to further grow the many strands of their businesses, including HemingwayDigital, a division of the renowned and award-winning Hemingway Design.

Wayne said: “Digitally enhanced communities are creative, innovative and exciting places to be and live, they enrich people’s lives.

“Those who use the internet well are those who know that it’s not just about what you sell, it’s about the people you sell to, it’s their lifestyles that are important.

“Online videos are a brilliant tool for businesses, councils and charities – they are low cost and have the potential to reach a huge audience.

“The most successful brands are the ones that give people something they can use or share with others, things like videos, posters and pictures.

“People respond to generosity, the world isn’t a nasty place, there are some nasty people but 99pc of people are decent folk.”

Wayne also highlighted HemingwayDesign’s hugely popular The Vintage Festival, which celebrates the best of British music, fashion, film, art and design, and he shared details of how The Vintage Festival has reached hundreds of thousands of people purely using social media.

Further Information:

Plum Communications are a registered supplier for the Connection Voucher Scheme which provides contribution of up to £3000 towards installation costs of high speed broadband for qualifying businesses subject to postcode area and acceptance on the scheme.

http://plumcom.uk/cvs.php

http://www.godigitalnewcastle.co.uk/news/wayne-hemingway-inspires-newcastle-businesses-superfast-event