Thursday 12 November 

Theme: Business 

Session 1 – Business Development and resilience  

10:30 – 12:00 

Speakers – Mike Cherry, Chair at Federation of Small Businesses & Julie Lilley, CEO of Federation of Small Businesses 

Session summary -  With their knowledge and experience of small businesses Mike and Julie from the Federation of Small business will be sharing their insight and recommendations for businesses in this uncertain time. What businesses can be doing to become more resilient and what areas should business owners think about in development, both in the short and long term.



Speaker –  Uri Baruchin, Strategic consulting at UBCS

Session summary - There are striking similarities in the ways individuals and organisations react in a crisis. This talk will connect ideas from psychology, crisis management and strategy to explore the role strategic thinking can play in getting beyond survival mode and back into growth.
 
 

12:00 – 12:30 - BREAK 

 

Session 2 – Demonstrating the value of comms and how to keep it 

12:30 – 14:00 

Speakers
• David Benigson, CEO, Signal AI 
• Campbell McIlroy, Director of Global Communications at Grant Thornton International Ltd
• Katie Spreadbury, MD, Vested
• Georgie Weedon, Head of Communications, Signal AI

Session summary -  Now more than ever, CCOs and Communications Leaders are expected to act as the high-level strategic advisors within their organizations. Their role has evolved from one that focuses solely on generating overall awareness, to holistic reputation management that is central to long term business growth and success. But in a world that has often struggled to fully appreciate or quantify the value of PR, how do you ensure communications teams are set up to be strategic?

The panel of expert Communication leaders will discuss the evolving role of the comms leader, how true strategic value is measured, and how AI is supercharging what their teams are capable of. Join the discussion to keep abreast of this and stay ahead of the curve.
 
By the end of this session, delegates will understand:
1. How to set up your team to be strategic and support decision making across your business. 
2. How to create PR measurement frameworks that support long term business growth and success. 
3. How AI is being used by teams to go beyond generating overall awareness to deliver greater value for the entire organization. 
4. How to demonstrate, sustain and consolidate the importance of comms over the next 12 months

 

Speaker –  Tom Goddard, Head of Communications, KPMG

Session summary - In this session Tom will talk about the role the communications function has played in helping navigate through the pandemic.  He will talk about the ways that we have proved our value, sharing experiences from KPMG and how using insight and internal focus have improved engagement levels. Tom will also share his reflections on how to sustain the value of communications within your organisation and what we can learn from this crazy year.
 

14:00 – 14:30 - BREAK  

Session 3 – Stakeholder engagement  

14:30 – 16:00 

Speaker – Andy Ambler, Director of Professional Game Relations at The FA 

Session summary -  Hear from Andy regarding the journey the FA has been on since the start of lockdown. Football is the countries number one sport with millions of fans across the world. Discover how the FA has evolved their engagement with different stakeholders, while focusing on maintained the brand and reputation of football, balancing the traditional with the modern and how they plan to bring fans back to the stadiums! 


Speaker – Effie Kanyua, Director of PR & Communications, Hearst UK 

Session summary -  Discover how Effie and her team managed, adapted, and grew the importance of stakeholder engagement throughout lockdown, creating a lasting impact on how communications is seen within the business and now this feeds into the long term strategy for comms. Hear about the three audience’s the comms team focused on, how the communications strategy was audience and data driven and what part trust played! Effie will also discuss the importance of diversity within communications and the workplace for Hearst UK.