Agenda

Discover the latest Keynotes, Breakout Forums, and Industry Village events taking place on 20th June at Trade Unlocked 2023.

To make the most of the day, we recommend that you read the Blueprint produced by the UK Trade & Business Commission before attending.

Welcome

9:30am to 9:45am

Opening remarks from the Trade Unlocked organisers and our Policy Partners, the UK Trade and Business Commission.

  • Ayesha Hazarika

    Host of Trade Unlocked

  • Naomi Smith

    Organiser of Trade Unlocked

  • Juergen Maier

    Organiser of Trade Unlocked

Keynotes

9:45am to 10:45am

We are delighted to be joined by Nick Thomas-Symonds, Shadow Secretary of State for International Trade and Lord Bilimoria, the founder of Cobra Beer.

  • Nick Thomas-Symonds

    Shadow Secretary of State for Interrnational Trade

  • Lord Bilimoria CBE, DL

    Founder, Cobra Beer

Industry Village

9:00am - 4:00pm

The Industry Village provides an area for each sector to meet, network and host presentations. Outside the advertised presentation times below you can find ways to discuss the Blueprint Recommendations relevant to your business by scanning the QR code on-screen.

  • 1.30pm - 2.30pm
    UK Farming’s perspective on International Trade

    NFU England & Wales

    3.00pm - 4.00pm
    Unleashing Potential, Feeding the Future: British Poultry's Role in Global Trade and Food Security

    British Poultry Council

  • 10:30am - 11:30am
    Connect, Support and Grow local businesses

    Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce

    12:00pm - 1:00pm
    Your Single Source of Truth

    Optimiser

    2.00pm - 2.30pm

    What Businesses Can Do To Engage More Actively With Democratic Issues

    Unlock Democracy

    3:00pm - 4:00pm

    The Business Club with Influence

    Downtown in Business

  • 10.30 - 11.30

    A Practical Guide to Trade Remedies

    Trade Remedies Authority

  • 10.30am - 11.30am / 12.00pm - 1.00pm

    A mission to mitigate global heating by reforesting Kenya

    Introducing Word Forest

  • 10:50am - 11:40am

    Services Trade: The Way Forward

    Richard Barfield Advisory Services

    12.00 - 12.30pm

    Promoting Access to Justice

    Litigation Capital Management

  • 12.15pm - 1.00pm

    Dedicated to reimagining a creative

    and responsible fashion industry.

    Fashion Roundtable

    1:30pm - 2:30pm
    EU-UK Labour Mobility – Impacts on UK Travel Industry

    Seasonal Businesses in Travel & ABTA

  • 10.30am - 11.30am / 3.00pm - 4.00pm
    The Alliance of Trade Associations in Engineering and Manufacturing

    EAMA

  • 1:30pm - 2:30pm
    UK Tech Plan and GenAI in trade and borders

    techUK & McKinsey &Co.

    3:00pm - 4:00pm
    Mission to Hong Kong – Your Tech Gateway to Asia Pacific

    Tech West England Advocates

  • 9.00am - 10.00am

    Your Single Source of Truth.

    Optimiser

    10.30am - 11.30am

    Mission to Hong Kong – Your Tech Gateway to Asia Pacific

    Tech West England Advocates

  • 10:30am - 11:30am

    A Practical Guide to Trade Remedies

    Trade Remedies Authority

    12:00pm - 1:00pm

    100 years of leading the chemical supply chain

    Chemical Business Association

    1:30pm - 2:00pm

    Networking for the Freight Industry

    Forwarder Events

    2:30pm - 3:00pm

    Introducing Logistics UK

    Logistics UK

Breakout Forums

11:00am to 3:00pm

Breakout Forums aim to provide space to share knowledge and generate discussion on the challenges and opportunities for UK businesses in international trade. If you’ve spent the last few years feeling like your voice hasn’t been heard, while decisions made in Westminster have made it harder for you or your business to buy and sell overseas - you’re not alone. This is your chance to do something about it.

Whether you are a panelist or participating from the audience, what you contribute will be filmed, and captured, to make the very most of every suggestion, recommendation, or innovation that comes out of the discussion.

Our panels will include experts, experienced faces from business and industry, policy-makers and more. Each Breakout Forum will examine policy proposals from the UK Trade and Business Commission, with insights from the panel and opening the floor to you - the real experts in your field. Trade Unlocked 2023 is your chance to have your say and influence the UK’s international trade policy as election manifestos are being drafted.

We strongly recommend that you read the Blueprint produced by the UK Trade & Business Commission before attending.

Stage hosts

  • Ayesha Hazarika

    Broadcaster, Journalist
    & Political Commentator

  • Alex Andreou

    Broadcaster
    & Political Commentator

  • James Crisp

    Europe Editor,
    The Telegraph

  • Cal Roscow

    Director of Development,
    Best for Britain

Inward Investment: what are the rules of attraction?

Main Stage: 11:00am - 12:00pm

  • Juergen Maier

    Session Chair
    Former CEO, Siemens UK

  • Peter Norris

    Chair of the Virgin Group,
    Co-Convenor, UKTBC

  • Vicky Pryce

    Chief Economic Adviser, CEBR

  • Geeta Nathan

    Deputy Director of Innovation Ecosystem Strategy, Innovate UK

This session will discuss the recent decline in inward investment in the UK, how UK business are being affected, and what needs to be done to reverse the trend. This panel will look at the UK’s foreign policy approach, as well as deregulation and ‘the level playing field’. Expect commentary from our witnesses on how the UK can become an attractive place to invest in, amongst other discussion.

The UK’s labour mobility problem: how do we fix it?

Stage A: 11:00am - 12:00pm

  • Geoff Mackey

    Session Chair
    UK Head, Plastics Europe

  • Charles Owen

    Managing Director,
    Seasonal Business in Travel

  • Suki Fuller

    Founder,
    Miribure

  • Dave Seaward

    Founder,
    3p Innovation Ltd.

  • Stephen Kinsella

    Specialist Partner,
    Flint Global

This session will highlight the challenges arising due to skill shortages across different sectors of the UK economy with an objective of identifying and discussing common policy solutions. Our panellists will discuss the Shortage Occupation List, Seasonal Worker Visas and Mutual Recognition of Qualifications; as well as investment in UK workforce training programmes and initiatives.

Freeing Trade: what needs to be done?

Stage B: 11:00am - 12:00pm

  • Peter Foster

    Session Chair
    Public Policy Editor, Financial Times

  • John Carroll

    Head of International and Transactional Banking, Santander UK

  • Charles Baughan

    Managing Director,
    Westaway Sausages

  • Lesley Batchelor CBE

    International Trade
    Experts Ltd

  • James Winfrey

    Farmer, Winfrey Farms

This session will highlight the challenges arising due to trade barriers across different sectors of the UK economy with an objective of identifying and discussing common policy solutions. Our panellists will look at how the UK can maintain open trade relationships with both the EU and the rest of the world, as well as increasing market access and streamlining customs procedures.

Trading our way to prosperity: A blueprint for policymakers

Stage C: 11:00am - 12:00pm

  • David Henig

    Session Chair
    Director, ECIPE

  • Tamara Cincik

    CEO,
    Fashion Roundtable

  • Professor L. Alan Winters

    Director, UK Trade Policy Observatory University of Sussex

  • Deborah Annetts

    Chief Executive,
    Independent Society of Musicians

  • Hilary Benn MP

    Labour MP and Co-Convenor,
    UK Trade and Business Commission

The UK Trade and Business Commission recently published a comprehensive assessment of the state of UK trade containing 114 recommendations to remove barriers to growth and prepare the UK economy for the challenges and opportunities of the next decade. Our panel will discuss this report in further detail.

The Changing World: when trade and business meet geopolitics

Main Stage: 12:15pm - 1:15pm

  • Nadine Batchelor-Hunt

    Session Chair
    Political Reporter, PoliticsHome

  • Lord Darroch

    Former UK Ambassador
    to the USA

  • Paul Drechsler

    Chair,
    International Chambers of Commerce

  • Dr Helen Belopolsky

    Global Head of Geopolitical Risk,
    HSBC

  • Kevin Klowden

    Chief Global Strategist,
    The Milken Institute

This session will discuss the complexities of trading as an independent country against the backdrop of increasingly assertive and interventionist superpowers and trading blocs, and what it means for UK businesses. This session will look at the UK’s potential accession to the CPTPP; as well as China, the USA, the EU and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Supply chains and logistics: managing the economy’s heartbeat

Stage A: 12:25pm - 1:25pm

  • Joe Mayes

    Session Chair
    UK Politics Reporter, Bloomberg News

  • Kate Jennings

    Policy Director,
    Logistics UK

  • Fergus McReynolds

    Director of EU & International Affairs,
    Make UK

  • Stephen Taylor

    Managing Director,
    Winterwood Farms

  • Declan Pang

    Director of Public Affairs and Policy, Road Haulage Association

In this session, the panel and audience will discuss the recent disruption in the UK’s supply chains, and what policies need to be put in place to increase supply chain resilience. This session will look at shortages of fresh produce, the impact of labour shortages, customs checks and ‘just in case’ supply chains.

Brexit Opportunities: what will really make a difference for business?

Stage B: 12:35pm - 1:35pm

  • William Bain

    Session Chair
    Head of Trade Policy, BCC

  • Tim Sarson

    Partner and UK Head of Tax Policy,
    KPMG

  • Sally Jones

    Trade Strategy and Brexit Leader,
    EY UK

  • Anirvan Choudhury

    Senior Manager,
    PwC UK

  • Elspeth MacDonald

    Chief Executive
    Scottish Fishermen’s Federation

The session will identify available business and trade opportunities arising from the UK’s departure from the EU, and discuss what more can be done to harness the benefits of Brexit. This session will focus heavily on finance and fishing with topics including the impacts of financial regulations and the Edinburgh Agreement; the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement; fishing quotas and the Retained EU Law Bill and its effects on UK businesses.

The Productivity Institute: Can productivity unlock the UK economic revival?

Stage C: 1:00pm - 2:00pm

Hosted by The Productivity Institute

  • Bart van Ark

    Session Chair
    Managing Director, The Productivity Institute and Professor of Productivity Studies, The University of Manchester

  • Tera Allas CBE

    Director of Research and Economics,
    McKinsey

  • Nigel Driffield

    Professor,
    TPI and Warwick Business School

  • Halima Jibril

    Research Fellow at the Enterprise Research Centre, University of Warwick, and The Productivity Institute

  • Donna Edwards

    Managing Director for Business Support and Business Finance, The Growth Company, Manchester

Productivity growth has slowed worldwide over the past 16 years, but why has the UK struggled more than other similar countries and what can be done to reverse the trend? In this session, Professor Bart van Ark will put forward his diagnosis of the UK’s productivity puzzle – broad chronic underinvestment, and a shortage of firms that accept and implement new ideas and technology. The panel will discuss research that underlines how exporting and innovation can make firms more productive and the importance of Foreign Direct Investment, as well as how regions and businesses can maximise the benefits of best practices.

Professor van Ark is the Managing Director of The Productivity Institute, a UK-wide research organisation exploring what productivity means for business, for workers and for communities – how it is measured and how it truly contributes to increased living standards and well-being. It is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.

People & Planet: how do we boost trade sustainably?

Main Stage: 1:45pm - 2:45pm

  • Miatta Fahnbulleh

    Session Chair
    CEO, New Economics Foundation

  • Shelley Brown

    Owner,
    The Good Life

  • Angela Francis

    Director of Policy Solutions,
    WWF UK

  • Clare Jackson

    Chief Executive,
    Hydrogen UK

  • Geoff Mackey

    UK Head,
    Plastics Europe

The session will explore how the UK and UK business can increase trade while making progress towards meeting Net Zero targets; developing carbon adjustment mechanisms; alignment with UN Sustainable Development Goals and International Labour Organisation standards.

Trade and Levelling Up: making a new industrial strategy

Stage A: 1:45pm - 2:45pm

  • Frank McKenna

    Session Chair
    Chief Executive, Downtown in Business

  • Henrietta Brealey

    Chief Executive, Greater Birmingham
    Chambers of Commerce

  • John Giwa-Amu

    Producer/CEO
    Good Gate Media

  • Rob Valentine

    Director (Leeds and Birmingham),
    Bruntwood

  • Josh Robson

    Head of Public Affairs,
    ScaleUp Institute

During this session, the panel and audience will discuss how the benefits of trade can be spread to UK business across the UK. The main topics for this session will be whether the UK needs a new industrial strategy to complement its trading ambitions; free ports/investment zones; building on the Windsor Framework; regional business investment funds and the powers of devolved administrations and local government.

Standards and Regulations: divergence or alignment?

Stage B: 1:45pm - 2:45pm

  • Hilary Benn MP

    Session Chair
    Labour MP and Co-Convenor of UKTBC

  • Sarah McCartney

    Founder,
    4160 Tuesdays

  • Rosa Crawford

    Policy Officer,
    Trades Union Congress

  • Richard Griffiths

    Chief Executive,
    British Poultry Council

  • Phoebe Clay

    Co-director,
    Unchecked UK

This session will explore the potential benefits and drawbacks of regulatory divergence from, or alignment with, the European Union in areas such as food standards; certification of products, labour standards and the ‘level playing field’.

Keynotes

3:15pm to 4:20pm

We will be joined by David Lammy MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs and Paul Dreschsler, Chair of the International Chamber of Commerce.

  • Paul Drechsler

    Chair, International Chamber of Commerce

  • David Lammy MP

    Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs

Closing Speech

4:25pm to 4:30pm

There will be a closing speech to mark the end of the Conference, before the formal business of the day comes to a conclusion.