Following the success of the second Invest in Nottingham day, the event looks set to be a yearly date in the city's business calendar from now on. MARK PATTERSON sizes it up.

It was a day of networking, statistical overload and several attempts to summarise Nottingham's business appeal in just a few words. Graham Chapman, deputy leader of the city council, was asked to describe Nottingham in three words and first came up with five. Jane Todd, chief executive of the same authority, managed three - industrious, innovative and inspirational. But it was Alex Farquharson, director of Nottingham Contemporary art gallery, who, in describing the city using just two words - 'New Nottingham' - perhaps unintentionally pinpointed what the entire Invest in Nottingham event was flagging up.

Speaking at the day's launch in the gallery's plunging conference space, Farquharson outlined the growing contribution that culture and the 'creative industries' were making to Nottingham's economy. He added: 'Nottingham is the fourth largest centre for creative industries in the country. We think we have a role at the spearhead of the new Nottingham, raising its reputation nationally and internationally.'

The 'New Nottingham'? In essence, that was what this event was all about - showing off the newest assets of a post-industrial Midlands city that has been energetically re-imagining and re-inventing a role for itself even amid the gloom of recession.

Last week, with an era of public sector austerity now on hand, investment opportunities was still being confidently flagged up everywhere - in the new Southside business district, across the city's bright sustainable science parks and in meetings with the captains of industries such as biotech, green-tech and digital creativity, the latter well represented by the launch of a 90,000sq ft data centre called The Portal and computer game designers Crytek's move into the Southreef development in Canal Street.

Coun Chapman even wants to lure some old fashioned manufacturing back. 'If there are any manufacturers in the room,' he said, in his opening speech at Nottingham Contemporary, 'you will receive special, special treatment.' In the darkness around the edge of the room stood one of the potential investors that the event was geared to attract. It was Peter Gadsby, the millionaire property developer who built Pride Park and bought Derby County. What was he here for? 'I've done a lot of business in the city and, having just seen this, I think Nottingham is very professional,' he replied. 'I've come here, frankly, to see if I can do more business. I've had a long and successful 20 year relationship with Nottingham.' He added: 'I just want to see what's going on.'

The official visitor list for the event ran to around 240 people. Since every Nottingham businessman and woman on the list was supposed to bring a business guest, there were theoretically more than 100 potential investors who made the trip to Nottingham last Thursday.

In return for the early start they were rewarded with tours of some of the city's biggest most promising development areas and an abundance of networking time with local decision-makers and the business community's top brass.

It was the networking, with the swapping of business cards, that was certainly most valued by visitor Simon Parsons, of London-based property developers and investors Pyle Owen Group. Sitting on the bus that was taking him and around 15 others to the tour of Alliance Boots' site in Beeston, he said: 'The most important aspect of today for me is the networking opportunities. And everyone else perceives it as such. I mean, it's unusual to have a planning officer on the same bus.' Two seats behind sat a city council planning officer. Mr Parsons added: 'You've got all the big hitters in these meetings. Charlotte Hogg, of Experian and the Vice Chancellor of Nottingham Trent University were just two at lunchtime.'

After seeing some of the city, Mr Parson's conclusion was that there would much new office development in the city - 'but it's going to be bespoke, niche, sector-driven.' As the bus pulled away to Beeston, an Invest in Nottingham walking tour of the city centre was heading off in the opposite direction, with a date to have tea with the Sheriff of Nottingham.

As a further reminder that the day wasn't all about hard-headed deal-making, the bus's passengers rapped on the windows to their friends like children saying goodbye on a school trip.

The volume of statistics thrown at the audience in tours and presentations was overwhelming. Here's a few in ascending order of numerical size: 160 - the number of Boots stores in Thailand. 950 - the number of parking spaces in the new multi-story car park that's being built behind the Hub railway station. £8 million - the amount of money generated by companies in Nottingham Trent University's Hive incubator programme. 40 million - the number of people whose data is held by Experian. £3bn - the annual potential customer spend at the Broadmarsh Centre, as calculated by Westfield.

What did we learn that was new about Nottingham? That Alliance Boots' CHP power station, which generates heat and electricity for its entire 300-acre site, is quite capable of meeting the power requirements of any new commercial and residential development on the 80-odd acres of land it has available for regeneration.

That the city council is progressing with plans to build a business energy park in Bulwell which will create energy from anaerobic digestion and biomass. That gaming company Crytek UK, now based in Southreef, is currently in the 'alpha crunch' stage of developing a killer new game that will hit the shops for Christmas. And much more.

And Graham Chapman's summary of Nottingham? Asked to describe the city in three words, he replied, 'The best place to invest in.' That was in front of a camera, so he had the chance to do it again and came up with the plea, 'please invest here.' And that was what it was all about too.