The inaugural meeting of a business group who are batting for Budleigh’s traders, has been hailed as a ‘tremendous success’ .

The first open meeting of Budleigh in Business, a new business forum group, was held last Wednesday and saw representatives of 38 businesses turnout.

Hosted by Angela Yarwood of the Brook Gallery (pictured), Fore St, local businesses attended the talk by Julia Bramble, social media expert from BrambleBuzz.

This was the first meeting with the aim of supporting the local business community.

Membership co-ordinator Raymond Ambrose said: “It exceeded expectations. One of our main worries was that not enough people would turn out.

“We needn’t have worried. It was jam packed.

“We have gone from 28 listed supporters to 38 in the last month, and we are hopeful we can grow even further.”

Marketing co-ordinator Trudie Burne said: “Julia’s introduction to social media was extremely informative and has certainly got our brains buzzing now with what to do for our businesses.”

“Our schedule of talks, which is continually growing, is aimed at supporting our small businesses in our community through the country’s recession.

“We want to provide extra tools and knowledge to help their business not only survive but hopefully improve, grow and prosper.”

The group adopted a formal constitution, and an organising committee, ahead of their official launch at Bicton EaRTH on May 21.

For more information visit www.budleighinbusiness.org.uk