Black Country Industrial Cluster Annual Conference

The Event

BCIC is the world’s oldest, most diverse and innovative industrial cluster. Join them to hear how they are creating new opportunities for growth. The agenda for the morning is as follows:

09:30 – 09:45 – Welcome from the hosts, Prof. Jonathan Radcliffe, Matthew Rhodes

09:45 – 10:00 – Keynote speech, Richard Parker, Mayor of the West Midlands.

10:00 – 11:00 – International cluster experiences and opportunities, discussion hosted by Matthew Rhodes.. You’ll hear from the Basque Industrial Supercluster, InvestNI, and about industrial decarbonisation in the US and in Bradford. Sister clusters will share the benefits that industrial clusters have delivered for their regions. Speakers include Maria San Salvador del Valle, Eugene Heaney and Melissa Stark.

11:00 – 11:15 – Break

11:15 – 12:15 – Increasing regional industrial competitiveness today. Nersi Salehi will host a panel of regional manufacturing companies to discuss how the £50M of capital grants and free energy audits BCIC has secured for West Midfands businesses are making their businesses more competitive today.

12:15 – 13:00 – Competitive futures for West Midlands manufacturers. Representatives of the energy sector, property developers, technology advocates, universities and the government will set out how they plan to support energy-intense industry in the West Midlands to succeed over the next decade. Short presentations will be followed by a discussion hosted by Richard Pyatt. Speakers include Laurie Duncan, Michaela Kendall and Prof. Jonathan Radcliffe.

13:00 – 14:00 – Lunch and exhibition