Agenda

Enjoy a hot drink and network with fellow delegates.

Summit Introduction.

Speakers

Alison Beard-Gunter

Summit Chair Independent Consultant

A high level opening keynote examining the true state of UK manufacturing as the sector heads into 2027. With sluggish growth, elevated labour costs, policy uncertainty and global competition intensifying, where are the real opportunities for British industry and what strategic decisions must leaders make now to stay globally competitive?

• Where does UK manufacturing genuinely stand on productivity, confidence and investment readiness?
• Which sectors are positioned for growth and which face the greatest strategic pressure?
• What will separate resilient manufacturers from vulnerable ones over the next 24 months?

As employment costs, energy spend and operational overheads continue to rise, productivity is becoming the defining executive agenda. This keynote explores where the next wave of measurable efficiency gains will come from and what leaders must stop, start and redesign.

• Why traditional continuous improvement alone is no longer enough
• Where automation, AI and workforce redesign are creating genuine productivity uplift
• How leading manufacturers are protecting margin without compromising growth

Network with key sponsors and fellow leaders, exchanging insights and building relationships that last beyond the event.

The industry is saturated with AI ambition, but how many manufacturers have genuinely operationalised it beyond isolated use cases? This panel brings together manufacturers, technology leaders and transformation heads to debate whether the sector is moving fast enough or simply talking fast.

• Are manufacturers materially further ahead on AI than they were 12 months ago?
• What is blocking scale: data, culture, trust, skills or investment?
• Is the pressure to “do AI” causing poor strategic decision-making?

The AI conversation is moving rapidly beyond experimentation. This keynote will examine where UK manufacturers are now seeing practical return from AI deployment across planning, maintenance, engineering, quality, workforce support and supply chain management and where hype is still masking immaturity.

• Which AI applications are delivering ROI now?
• What organisational barriers are preventing enterprise-wide adoption?
• How should manufacturers govern AI while still moving quickly?

Manufacturing transformation is not only a technology challenge; it is a people challenge. As automation, AI and digital systems reshape operations, leaders must rethink capability, site leadership, retention and workforce adaptability.

• Why the industrial skills shortage is becoming a competitiveness issue
• How workforce design is changing as technology accelerates
• What leading employers are doing to create resilient, digitally capable teams

Network with key sponsors and fellow leaders, exchanging insights and building relationships that last beyond the event.

The Summit Chair will summarise key themes of the day and delegates are given the opportunity to feedback on their experience of the event.

Speakers

Alison Beard-Gunter

Summit Chair Independent Consultant

Join fellow senior executives, innovators, and industry visionaries for a session of relaxed networking. This offers the perfect setting to continue conversations, forge new connections, and exchange ideas with peers shaping the future of manufacturing.

Summit Introduction.

Speakers

Alison Beard-Gunter

Summit Chair Independent Consultant

From tariffs and shipping volatility to geopolitical instability and raw material shocks, disruption is no longer episodic. This keynote focuses on how manufacturers are redesigning sourcing strategy, inventory assumptions and supplier ecosystems for a world where instability is permanent.

• Are traditional lean supply chain models still fit for purpose?
• What does true end-to-end supply resilience now require?
• How are manufacturers balancing cost against continuity?

As manufacturers face tightening margins, sustainability investment is under greater scrutiny than ever. This keynote tackles the difficult but necessary conversation around decarbonisation, energy resilience and ESG performance through a hard commercial lens.

• How do leaders justify green investment when budgets are constrained?
• Which sustainability initiatives are proving commercially valuable?
• Can manufacturers avoid sustainability fatigue while maintaining momentum?

Network with key sponsors and fellow leaders, exchanging insights and building relationships that last beyond the event.

As trade friction, geopolitical instability and national capability concerns intensify, reshoring has become one of the dominant conversations in UK manufacturing. But is it truly viable at scale or are cost realities still pulling industry outward? This panel explores the practical, political and economic truth.

• Which manufacturing categories genuinely make sense to localise?
• Can resilience justify higher operating cost?
• What role should UK industrial policy play in enabling sovereign capability?

As factories become smarter, faster and more connected, they also become more exposed. This keynote will explore the growing convergence of cyber risk, OT vulnerability, AI governance and operational continuity and what manufacturing boards need to understand now.

• Why connected manufacturing is changing the cyber threat profile
• Where OT and IT protection strategies are still dangerously disconnected
• What governance questions senior leaders should be asking immediately

This closing keynote focuses on leadership under prolonged volatility. With constant change now the defining feature of industrial management, how do leaders sustain momentum, confidence, investment discipline and workforce belief while the ground keeps shifting?

• What leadership behaviours are proving most effective in unstable conditions?
• How do manufacturers maintain transformation energy amid fatigue?
• What does decisive long-term planning look like when certainty is unavailable?

The Summit Chair will summarise key themes of the day and delegates are given the opportunity to feedback on their experience of the event.

Speakers

Alison Beard-Gunter

Summit Chair Independent Consultant

The Oscars of UK manufacturing. A unique opportunity to join 400+ elite manufacturers for an unforgettable evening of recognition and celebration, and to discover who will be crowned the best of British. Separate tickets required – book yours HERE.