The day-long event in Falkirk Town Hall was attended by even more people than the inaugural exhibition last year.

And a visit from Jim Mather, the Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism, made it an important week for the area's business community as they respond to the economic downturn.

Sponsored by The Falkirk Herald, Friday's Business Fair had 51 exhibitors, many returning to generate new business and forge partnerships.

Those returning included The Eden Consultancy, Macdonald Inchyra Grange and MetTECH, while those exhibiting for the first time included CeeJay Software, Earls Gate Park and AHA-Architects.

Opening the event, Councillor Craig Martin, convener of the council's economic development committee, said: "As well as being a fantastic place to meet prospective new customers, The Falkirk Business Fair is also about meeting other locally-based businesses, sharing ideas and looking for opportunities to collaborate. This year's event has grown, with more exhibitors and more visitors than the first one last year, which is great for the Falkirk area particularly in the current economic climate."

Richard Bell, managing director of Johnston (Falkirk) Ltd, publishers of The Falkirk Herald, said: "We are pleased once again to be associated with the Business Fair and delighted at its success. The number of exhibitors and visitors shows the strength of the business community in this area and augurs well for the district's economic recovery and growth."

The previous day, the Enterprise Minister visited the new Forth Valley campus at Earls Gate Park in Grangemouth where he was given an update on the My Future's in Falkirk economic development initiative.

Mr Mather then chaired discussions with the Falkirk business community.

Maureen Campbell, Falkirk Council's director of community services, said: "The Minister was very complimentary about My Future's in Falkirk and the hard work being carried out by everyone in the area. In particular he was very impressed with the positive attitudes and how they had changed over the last five years.

"As part of the discussion a number of other positive aspects were highlighted, including the change in young people's views of the area, the relationships between the private and public sectors and the benefits the central location brings, in particular, its links to the rest of the country and to Europe and beyond through the port at Grangemouth."

However, the director added that the discussions did also raise a number of concerns from business leaders, particularly the need to improve the Avon Gorge road linking Falkirk with West Lothian and beyond.