The Business Link Innovation Lounge is a 400 capacity theatre that will host a plethora of keynote speakers from the world of business. Leading entrepreneurs will deliver advice and inspiration while our business leaders will deliver relevant educational keynotes about the economy and many other relevant business subjects.
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8.30am - 10.00am The Manchester Evening News business breakfast Michelle Mone, Founder and Co-owner of Ultimo LingerieHosted by Kevin Feddy, Business Editor of the Manchester Evening News Michelle Mone is the co-owner of MJM International and creator of Ultimo, the UK’s leading designer lingerie brand. Listed as one of the top three female entrepreneurs in the UK, Michelle joins Business North West to speak passionately about her struggle to succeed against the odds. A motivational and inspirational speaker, she is straight talking and gives a genuine down to earth personal account of how she built up her company. Michelle reveals how her life experience has contributed to her success and aided her career’s giant milestone. This year not only was Ultimo the first UK lingerie brand to debut on the catwalk at New York Fashion Week, but she opened 20 ‘shop in shops’ within Debenhams in key cities throughout the UK and landed a mammoth deal with Tesco clothing to develop, design and manufacture ‘Diamond Boutique’ lingerie. Michelle also appeared as a contestant on Comic Relief Does the Apprentice with Sir Alan Sugar and as a regular panelist on The Apprentice: You’re Fired. |
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10.30am - 11.30am Business Link Innovation Lounge Michelle Dewberry, Founder, ChiconomiseMichelle Dewberry returns to Business North West Since first speaking at Business North West in 2007, Michelle Dewberry's career has skyrocketed. The raw ambition and keen business sense which caught the eye of Lord Alan Sugar back in 2006 has ensured her own consultancy career is going strong, having consulted for some of the UK's largest firms and with the Financial Times recently reporting that an adventure holiday company reported their best day's trading following Dewberry's intervention. Dewberry's most recent business Chiconomise.com, the online money saving women's lifestyle website, was launched in June 2009 and is one of the few businesses set up during the recession that has thrived. Dewberry returns to Business North West this year to discuss the pros and cons of setting up a business in the recession and to discuss ways in which businesses can capitalise on the economic climate. In fact her company Chiconomise.com boasts the current recession as one of the keys to its success. |
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12.00pm - 1.00pm Business Link Innovation Lounge Mark Howe, Country Director, Agency, Google UKHosted by Neil Geoghegan, Corporate Resources Director, Business Link Northwest Marketing in a Digital World With marketing and consumer budgets under huge pressure, marketeers need more than ever to 'do more with less'. Digital media is an increasingly important part of the mix for brands communicating with target customers. But if you view digital as something you simply add to your media schedule, you miss out. Because the mass market consumer is digital, because competitors are digital, and because technology and behaviour are changing faster than ever before. We believe that marketeers can gain advantage during the downturn and sustain this for the long term if they look at the world through 'a digital lens'. There are real-time insights into consumer and competitor behaviour, ways of mass communication which allow targeting and tailoring to individuals, and ways to adapt strategies and tactics by the minute. |
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1.30pm - 2.30pm Business Link Innovation Lounge Great Green DebateThe question of how SMEs can compete in an increasingly sustainability conscious marketplace will be tackled in a series of live debates to be held in the Innovation Lounge. The 'Great Green Debate' will bring together panels of experts in the fields of sustainability and business who will respond to questions from the local business community. The Great Green Debate aims to explore the key issue of sustainability and business in the light of growing evidence that consumers, as well as businesses, are increasingly looking for greater levels of sustainability from their suppliers and partners. However, SMEs are the least likely group to have a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy or environmental policy in place. This is putting SMEs at a competitive disadvantage when compared to larger businesses that have the resources to develop advanced CSR and environmental policies, as well as the budgets to aggressively market themselves as 'green'. The Great Green Debate will look at the business realities and problems faced by companies looking to make themselves more environmentally attractive, and will offer solutions and advice on how they can develop sustainable strategies. A selected amount of questions will be chosen prior to the debate. To be in with a chance of asking your question to the panellists you will first need to register online to attend. Then please send your question to greendebate@nwe.co.uk. If your question is selected you will be contacted prior to the event taking place. |
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4.30pm - 5.30pm Business Link Innovation Lounge Tom Vosa, Chief Economist, Yorkshire BankTop UK economist prepares business for upturn Understanding how the North West region is being affected in the current economic climate is essential for all SMEs if they are to both survive and thrive. Tom Vosa, Chief Economist for Yorkshire Bank, will use the latest indicators to present an up to date outlook on the regional economy and how businesses can be best prepared to take advantage of the upturn. Tom has extensive experience covering forecasting, economic analysis and related client advice in the banking and financial markets and also within the public sector, having spent seven years as an economist with the Bank of England. Tom's wide ranging role includes advising the bank on hedging its own balance sheet, forecasting the outlook for UK growth, inflation and interest rates in conjunction with colleagues. He regularly speaks on the outlook for the UK commercial and residential property markets, through to commenting on prospects for agricultural commodity prices. |
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8.30am - 10.00am Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce business breakfast Kell Ryan, Founding Member, RyanairHosted by Angie Robinson, CEO of Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce The Ryanair story is the one everyone wants to hear: how a small cash strapped Irish airline who carried 5000 passengers in its first year of trading back in 1985, became the world’s largest International airline and Europe’s largest low-cost carrier transporting 58 million passengers in 2008…and Michael Kell Ryan loves to tell it to all who want to hear it. With over forty years of extensive airline experience including operations, customer service training, marketing, sales, public relations and media communications, Kell Ryan joins Business North West to discuss how Ryanair led a business revolution. Kell takes great delight in passing on his knowledge, enthusiasm and love of Aviation and Tourism and an insight into Ryanairs success on changing aviation in Europe, how it managed change, company culture, leadership, innovation, motivation and most importantly of all for any company, especially in these times, the unrelenting control of costs and how it can be applied to any business. |
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1.30pm - 2.30pm Business Link Innovation Lounge Great Green DebateThe question of how SMEs can compete in an increasingly sustainability conscious marketplace will be tackled in a series of live debates to be held in the Innovation Lounge. The 'Great Green Debate' will bring together panels of experts in the fields of sustainability and business who will respond to questions from the local business community. The Great Green Debate aims to explore the key issue of sustainability and business in the light of growing evidence that consumers, as well as businesses, are increasingly looking for greater levels of sustainability from their suppliers and partners. However, SMEs are the least likely group to have a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy or environmental policy in place. This is putting SMEs at a competitive disadvantage when compared to larger businesses that have the resources to develop advanced CSR and environmental policies, as well as the budgets to aggressively market themselves as 'green'. The Great Green Debate will look at the business realities and problems faced by companies looking to make themselves more environmentally attractive, and will offer solutions and advice on how they can develop sustainable strategies. A selected amount of questions will be chosen prior to the debate. To be in with a chance of asking your question to the panellists you will first need to register online to attend. Then please send your question to greendebate@nwe.co.uk. If your question is selected you will be contacted prior to the event taking place. |
