Business people from across the region flocked to Blenheim Palace yesterday for this year's In Business Exhibition, writes Sarah Parker.

The event, organised by The Oxford Times, the Oxford Mail's sister paper, was voted an outstanding success.

Almost 50 businesses took part, double the number who attended last year. Free seminars were held throughout the day dealing with a variety of topics, including Property Ownership in the 21st Century, hosted by Cluttons, one of the event sponsors.

David Williams, of Cluttons said: "The event was very successful for us last year and I have no doubt that the event will become the main business forum for Oxfordshire. We really wanted to be part of it this year. We had an excellent response from clients who we invited to come along and the venue is fantastic. The way the event was organised was brilliant."

B-Line Business Centre returned for a second year, after last year's event resulted in several orders. This year the firm was promoting its new online ordering service.

Phil Beasley said: "We are a small, family-run business but competing with big companies. Our Internet ordering package is proving very successful and we had lots of interest shown during the exhibition. We had a tremendous response from visitors to our service."

Andrew Salsbury, who runs mineral water and coffee company Indigo Blue, based in Abingdon, said: "We had lots of interest, it was very successful for us and I felt confident that the event would work for us."

Alison Graham, of solicitors Morgan Cole, said: "The event was very good for us. It has a high profile and it is important for us to be seen. It is good for local businesses and helps us to build on our existing profile.

"We had lots of interest from firms who were unaware of some of the services we offer."

The In Business Exhibition was sponsored by Cluttons, Blackwells and ntl. Sally , of Newsquest (Oxfordshire), the owner of the Oxford Mail, said: "We already have a sponsor lined up for next year, and we had to turn exhibitors away because we ran out of room. Next year's event will be even bigger."