Opening remarks by Naomi Smith, CEO of Best for Britain and Juergen Maier, Chair of the Trade Unlocked Organising Committee and former Chief Executive of Siemens UK.
Former Chief Executive, Siemens
Juergen Maier is an Industrialist and the former Chief Executive of Siemens UK, a position he held from July 2014 to December 2019. Over his 33 year career with Siemens he held a number of senior roles within Siemens in the UK and Germany. He built Siemens UK into a R&D led engineering powerhouse, significantly contributing to net zero goals and bringing high value jobs across the UK.
Juergen now Chairs the Digital Catapult and has contributed to the creation of a more focused approach to UK's industrial and innovation strategies. He founded the national Made Smarter programme that is driving industrial digitalisation into UK's manufacturing base and supporting more investment in research and innovation . He advises tech start-up and scale-up businesses which are a key part of the industrial ecosystem creating UK's green 4th Industrial revolution. In that capacity, Juergen chairs the Manchester Graphene Company.
Juergen has received honorary doctorates and professorships from a number of UK Universities including visiting professorships at the University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University and Nottingham Trent University.
CEO, Best for Britain
Naomi has led Best for Britain since 2019 and formerly was Executive Director of Campaigns at the business lobby group London First. Prior to focusing on her campaigning work, Naomi spent 15 years working in finance and accounting with the likes of Arthur Andersen, Deloitte, and Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, as well as chairing voluntary groups.
