HAMPSHIRE Economic Partnership is to hold its 2003 annual conference in Basingstoke.

It is a major event that will bring Jim Brathwaite, chairman of the South East England Development Agency to north Hampshire for the first time.

The conference is being held at the new ARK Centre at Basingstoke hospital and its theme is The Earth User's Guide to Profitability - Build Today's business and Protect Tomorrow's World.

Mr Brathwaite will be the first speaker and his subject will be "Seizing the Business Growth Opportunity". He will outline the opportunities that delivering sustainable business offers the South East - and particularly Hampshire.

He will also identify key best practice projects in the area which are supported by SEEDA and suggest ways in which businesses can become further involved.

Baroness Barbara Young will be another of the keynote speakers and will outline some of the new legislation coming out of the EC and the UK government, which offers new opportunities for forward-thinking businesses.

Other speakers are Professor Martin Charter, from the Surrey Institute of Art and Design, Dr Bevis Watts, from the Waste and Resources Action Programme, and Peter Johnson, of the Portsmouth Marriott Hotel, which won this year's Hampshire and Isle of Wight Business Environment Award.

The conference is being held next Friday and will be chaired by Martin Neilsen, a director of Basingstoke-headquartered Scott Wilson which was named the 2003 Hampshire Company of the Year.