Celebration of Bollywood in Brent

Over 500 people visited the Bollywood Brent Showcase on Sunday 29 April at the Wembley Plaza Hotel. The event, a celebration of Bollywood in the London borough of Brent, combined a small business exhibition with entertainment, and was hosted by ABi Associates, a leading business development organisation.

The event was officially opened by the Mayor of Brent, Councillor Bertha Joseph who commended ABi’s efforts. She said, “When people in the community make an effort we need to support them and as the first citizen of Brent I felt it was important for me to be here today.” Councillor Joseph also congratulated ABi’s Bollywood Brent initiative for bringing business communities together. “It is so important that we know how wealthy we are in Brent. It is the most cultural, diverse borough in Europe and the communities have contributed commercially, economically, and culturally to our borough. It is also important to expose the talent and businesses that we have in the borough and that we help them to develop whilst boosting employment as well.”

Vijay Amin, Managing Director of ABi, commented, “This was ABi’s first Bollywood Brent initiative to celebrate the cultural diversity and business opportunities in the borough as a result of the growth in the world’s largest film industry. We were delighted to welcome so many visitors of all ages who experienced first hand the culture, colours and glamour of Bollywood. We also thank the participants, some of whom were as young as eight, who entertained attendees with various dances and musical performances.”

The Showcase’s media partners were Redhotcurry.com and Club Asia radio. The radio station’s DJ Jackal compered the event and even recorded visitors’ song requests to be played on air throughout the week.

Around 35 exhibitors, representing different aspects of Asian culture showcased their offerings. They praised the good organisation, networking opportunities and the invaluable opportunity to raise awareness of their businesses to an overwhelming audience of 500 plus.

Visitors enjoyed a vegetarian buffet courtesy of ABi Associates and the event came to a close at 8pm.

Bollywood is otherwise known as the Indian film industry, and the world’s largest, with around a thousand films produced annually. Recent years have seen an explosive international interest in Bollywood and subsequently an increase in businesses launched.

Bollywood Brent was funded by the London Development Agency and supported by Brent Council.

Please click here for pictures of the showcase.

www.bollywoodbrent.com
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For general enquiries, please contact:
Aruna Patel, ABi Associates, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , 020 8438 4550

For media enquiries and photographs, please contact:
Nita Shah, Shahrp This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it 0845 226 5059

Notes to editors

ABi Associates

ABi Associates was established in 1995 to influence the Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Business development agenda. ABi has an established track record in assisting public and private sector organisations to achieve their strategic aims through consultancy, project management and delivery. With over ten years’ experience and expertise in providing business support to small and growing SMEs to succeed, ABi Associates is recognised by clients, businesses and agencies as one of the UK's leading business development organisations.

ABi designs and delivers unique, innovative and tailored programmes enabling us to meet the needs of each individual and business to achieve sustainability. The organisation specialises in providing affordable professional business consultancy, training and support.