One of the South’s leading business events, Portsmouth and South Coast Business Week, has been officially commended at the Vice-Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence 2025, in the category of Partnerships, Collaboration & Knowledge Exchange.
From our CEO, Ross McNally
‘It is great to see the Portsmouth and South Coast Business Week recognised in this way. Since inception it has been a partnership bringing together all those stakeholders and businesses that make Portsmouth and the wider region such a great place to do business Hampshire Chamber, the University, Colleges, City Council, other authorities and networks, plus businesses of all sizes and sectors too numerous to mention, have been at the forefront of building and delivering success around the week. It will go from strength to strength following this well-deserved recognition.’
The award recognises the week’s outstanding contribution to regional growth through working partnerships, cross-sector collaboration, and knowledge-sharing across education, business, and local government. Now going into it’sin its sixth year, the Business Week has grown into a major fixture in the local business calendar, offering a packed programme of events that support enterprise, innovation, and economic resilience.
This year’s event, held in February, welcomed more than 3,000 attendees across 100+ events, with sessions spanning Portsmouth, Fareham, Southampton, Gosport, Havant, and beyond. Topics ranged from green growth and cybercrime to property trends, creative industries, and workforce development. A strong digital presence also helped extend the week’s reach, with over 30,000 views of Facebook Live sessions broadcast daily from The Queen’s Hotel Portsmouth.
This commendation celebrates the collaborative effort behind the event’s success, which involved a wide network of partners, including:
University of Portsmouth, Fareham Borough Council, Portsmouth City Council, Gosport Borough Council, Havant Borough Council, HSDC Havant & South Downs, South Hampshire College Group, City of Portsmouth College, Solent University, The Queens Hotel Portsmouth, The News (Portsmouth), Shaping Portsmouth, 1stcs.it (1st Group Ltd), Solent Business & Skills Solutions, Xelabus Limited, Flude Property Consultants, Blake Morgan LLP, BNI Hampshire UK, Citrus Facilities Management, Liberty Recruitment Group Ltd and SLR Marine Recruitment.
This award underlines the value of collaborative working and the role that initiatives like Portsmouth and South Coast Business Week play in fostering economic opportunity and innovation across the region.
For more information and a full recap of the event, visit: portsmouth.southcoastbusinessweek.co.uk
Next year’s Portsmouth South Coast Business Week takes place between 23rd February – 27th February 2026.
About Hampshire Chamber of Commerce
Hampshire Chamber of Commerce is the independent voice of local business across the county and one of the largest regional business networks in the UK. With a strategic vision to ‘unlock Hampshire’s potential’, Hampshire Chamber brings together the combined influence, strength and expertise of the county’s three former major chambers. It works with over 2,000 individual firms spanning all sectors and sizes of business. Member services include training, advice, international trade documentation, events, networking opportunities and lobbying to policymakers on issues affecting business. Hampshire Chamber’s business network is designed to help any employer to grow and thrive irrespective of their stage on the enterprise journey.