Ninder runs a music, event production and publishing company where he hosts 5 large corporate events a year for entrepreneurs namely in Birmingham, Wolverhampton , Leicester and London with Manchester and Mumbai in 2023. They are known as the Signature Awards, the Nachural Entrepreneurship Awards, Nachural Summer Business Awards and the Midlands Economic Summit.

He has been running a record label for over 25 years and is a member of the premier bhangra band – achanak – who still tour today. The production company has now ventured in creative services including film and video production. The record label remains as the only British Asian label to have charted globally. The track Munde To Bachke charted at no.5 in the UK charts, with a feature by Jay Z, the track charted at no.7 in the US, a No.2 in Germany and a further nine number 1 chart positions. Culminating in sales exceeding 11 million copies.

Nachural have recently set up a publishing arm with the launch of ‘The Business Influencer magazine’ and podcast with international distribution already in place which includes over 1000 stores in the USA, Canada and in the UK – is available at WHSmith.

Outside of his day job – Ninder is the Board member of The West Midlands 5G, Board Governor of the University of Wolverhampton, Elected member of the West Midlands CBI, NED at  Accord Housing and BCRS, Trustee of The Canal and River Trust, Trustee of Victoria Academy ( set of primary schools ), previously President of the Black Country Chamber of Commerce, Board member of the Black Country LEP, Board member of the West Midlands Combined Authority and Chair of Charity – Steps to Work. He is also a Board member of the West Midlands India Partnership, West Midlands Tourism Board and Chair of the Wolverhampton City Investment Board.

He was a runner up in the Sunday Times in 2017 for the Non Executive of the Year awards  for his work as President of the Black Country Chamber of Commerce and is now  a judge for the Sunday Times/Peel Hunt Non Executive Director of the Year..

He was appointed Deputy Lieutenant of the West Midlands in Feb 2019 in recognition of his work for the region and is a multi award winner.

Robert Franks is Managing Director at WM5G and has overseen the programme’s movement from mobilisation to delivery, promoting the advantages of 5G and accelerating update across the region.

Throughout his career Robert has held a number of senior positions at leading international telecoms firms including O2, T-Mobile and Orange. While at O2, Robert was Director of Digital and Managing Director of Commerce. He doubled revenue into the hundreds of millions by launching and scaling new businesses in sectors such as Wi-Fi, Internet of Things, messaging, payments, data analytics, advertising and FinTech. He also led the company’s start-up accelerator.

WM5G’s initial focus has been the deployment of the enabling infrastructure required for 5G as well as undertaking nearly 30 real-world trials in sectors such as health, manufacturing and transport. The organisation is working closely with manufacturers, SMEs, universities and hospitals across the region, developing new digital applications that will help drive economic growth and make a real and positive difference to the people and businesses of the West Midlands.

WM5G aims to utilise its experience and expertise gained to date, working with citizens, businesses and organisations, to support post-pandemic economic recovery while driving the uptake and adoption of next-generation communications networks across the region and beyond.

Nigel Driffield is Deputy Pro Vice Chancellor for regional engagement at Warwick University and also Professor of International Business at Warwick Business School, having held a similar post at Aston Business School for 10 years which included a spell as the dean of the business school. He has a PhD from Reading University, and has published some 80 academic papers across a range of disciplines including international business, regional science, finance, and economics.
His main areas of interest are:
The links between firm internationalisation and firm performance
The impact of inward investment on host locations
International technology transfer
Policy responses to globalisation
He is the Organisational Capital Theme Lead for the (£35m) ESRC Productivity Institute. He recently held a £1m investment from ESRC looking at productivity in the West Midlands, “From Productivity to Prosperity”. This focussed on how productivity growth through investment, skills and supply chain collaboration can be translated into inclusive growth. He was part of a tea has recently competed a £650K ESRC grant looking at policies to deliver productivity and growth locally.
He has held a Prestigious Leverhulme Fellowship, investigating the impact of internationally mobile capital on both home and source countries, particularly in terms of competitiveness and labour markets.
More generally, he has been an advisor to the (then) BEIS Select Committee, and the Department of International Trade, with a focus on inward investment. He has carried out research and consultancy projects for UNCTAD, World Bank, European Commission, OECD, and in the UK several Government Departments and local Regional Development bodies.

Locally, he has worked with the Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP since its inception, serving on the economics strategy board, chairing the academic advisory group, and on the executive steering committees for both the Heseltine Report and the Strategic Economic Plan. More recently he was the academic lead and deputy chair of the West Midlands Productivity and Skills commission. He has written extensively on the prospects for inward investment post Brexit.
He was on the Business and Management Sub-panel for the recent Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014 and REF2021) . He recently completed a term on ESRC grants panel. He spent 16 years on the editorial review board of the Journal of International Business Studies, the “World Elite” journal in the area of international business, as well as the Journal of World Business the Global Strategy Journal and Management International Review and the Journal of International Business Policy.

Indicators of esteem.
Elected to the Academy of Social Sciences in 2011,
Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts, 2018
Member of the REF2014 sub-panel (19) for management and business, covering the area of international business. Re-appointed for 2020
ESRC Grants Applications Panel 2016- 2018
Editorial Review board of Journal of international Business Studies.
Executive Committee UK Academy of International Business.

Paul is the Co-founder of Element45, an advisory business that acts as a catalyst for positive change and performance improvement within organisations through the application of extensive and pragmatic strategic leadership experience.

Previously Paul has held roles including CEO of Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest and the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce, as well as Chief of Staff for the Richardson investment business and interim CEO of the Kids' Village charity.   

He is also currently Chairman of Sport Birmingham, and has previously held trustee roles with Town Hall Symphony Hall in Birmingham, Cure Leukaemia and Birmingham Children's Hospital charity.

Maria Machancoses is the Chief Executive of Midlands Connect - the sub-national Transport
Body (STB) for the Midlands. Representing a region of more than 10 million people,
Midlands Connect brings together 22 local transport authorities, civic and business leaders to
strategically shape the region’s transport network.
Maria has been instrumental in the success and development of Midlands Connect, having
helped establish it in 2014. Under her leadership, Midlands Connect has published the first
landmark 25-year transport strategy for the region and is now progressing with multi-million
infrastructure programmes including the £1.5bn flagship project - Midlands Rail Hub.
As part of her role, she also leads the policy and research activities on crucial agendas such
as Alternative Fuels, Freight and Rural Mobility. This work has led to the delivery of
“Supercharging the Midlands” - the first roadmap to the acceleration of EV and Hydrogen
infrastructure across the Midlands.
Maria was rewarded “Outstanding Contribution to Transport” by the Transport Times in
2019. With over than 25-years of experience, she has a track-record of brokering innovative
multi-disciplinary partnerships to expand co-ordination and joint-working cross regions and
has vast experience in participating in international platforms including EMTA (European
Metropolitan Transport Association) and UITP (International Association of Public Transport).
Maria holds a Degree in Law from the University of Valencia (Spain), as well as a Masters
Degree in International Transport (University of Cardiff, Wales).

Charlotte Keenan leads the Goldman Sachs Office of Corporate Engagement's international responsibilities, including 10,000 Small Businesses in the UK and France, the firm's impact-driven work in India, and serves as global head of 10,000 Women.

Charlotte currently serves as chair of the Expert Advisory Council for the UK government's Help to Grow: Management program for small businesses.

Before joining Goldman Sachs, Charlotte spent time in Investment Banking (JPMorgan Cazenove and Jefferies) and was Chief Executive of Tony Blair's Foundation. She holds degrees from both Oxford and Columbia Universities, as well as being a Frank Knox Fellow at Harvard.

As part of the 10, 000 Small Businesses programme, Charlotte attended a City Summit in Birmingham which brought together business leaders, policymakers, and academics to discuss the immense growth in the Midlands region, how it was achieved and what can be done to accelerate it.

Carmen Watson has established herself as one of the UK’s most successful recruitment leaders. During her time with Pertemps she has navigated through challenging business climates, implemented a strategy which has helped drive growth and position Pertemps as a market leader in its field; servicing a broad cross section of industry verticals and public sector bodies. Through promoting and delivering best practice in the field of attraction, recruitment and retention of a diverse range of talent, Carmen has ensured Diversity and Inclusion is at the fore. In 2015 she was named by the Staffing Industry Analysts as one of the most powerful female leaders in recruitment; an accolade bestowed upon her in the successive 5 years which followed. In 2018 she was voted Overall Midlands Director of the Year (IOD) and received a Lifetime Achievers Award from the Recruitment & Employment Confederation in the same year. Carmen sits on the Business in Community Race Equality Leadership board, is a Fellow of the Institute of Recruitment and Employment Confederation and currently leads the Women in Business Group of the Lord Mayor of Birmingham’s Charity Patrons.

Simon is Arcadis City Executive for the Midlands, with over 500 staff in the Midlands office in Birmingham. With 30 years property, construction, regeneration and asset experience he helps clients make the best of their built and natural assets in relation to achieving their vision, strategy and key priorities. He has led and delivered a range of projects across the public, private and infrastructure sectors and has a deep understanding of the development, housing and regeneration arena. He is currently on the advisory board of City Redi at the University of Birmingham, a Board Member of Women in Property and a trustee and Board Member of Malvern Theatres. Simon is a former board member of the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership and former Chair of the Curzon Enterprise Zone Board.

Mitchell Barnes is the 28-year-old CEO of RYSE 3D in Shipston-on Stour.
His mission is for his firm to lead the world in ‘production 3D printing’ and the
development of this technology as one that is suitable for ‘sustainable’ low to
medium volume production in every sector you can think of.
What started as one printer in his mum’s garage has now grown into a £5m+
business, employing 24 people and exporting parts to 23 of the world’s hypercar
projects, new technology in aviation and for a host of medical applications
Over £2m has been invested into creating a state-of-the-art facility in Warwickshire,
with a plan in place to double capacity using LANDR 500, a 3D printer it has
designed, developed and built in house. When this comes to fruition, the company
will become a technology hub for the UK and more than 30 international customers,
giving it the capacity to handle millions of parts per year.
Mitchell’s rise to business fame has seen RYSE 3D secure a King’s Award for
Innovation and a string of other business titles, including Rising Star and the
Technology Supply Chain company of the year.

Managing Director Ducati Northern Europe.
Fabrizio is in charge of building the Ducati dealer network in Northern Europe. This involves significant investments in new dealership premises and services. Fabrizio led Ducati in China and the Far East, building a network of 35 dealerships in China alone. He has been using the lessons he learned in some of these fast growing, developing, markets to help his investment programme in the established Northern European market. He is able to give interesting commentary of the speed of decision making and the business-friendly culture of the Far East when compared to the slower growth models in Northern Europe.
Fabrizio is a fascinating person, he learned to pilot airplanes aged 17, and could land a plane before he could drive a car. His first two wheeled vehicles were motor scooters in his home town of Bologna, from age 14, before owning his first fully fledged motorcycle aged 16. He is a man of action and regularly undertakes long motorcycle trips on his Ducati. He has an engineering degree and has worked with Ducati for many years – apart from a motorcycle career break with the Italian sports car manufacturer, Maserati. He built the Maserati operation in Japan, Korea and South East Asia.
At 55 years old, Fabrizio has been married to his British wife for more than 20 years and is delighted to be located in in favourite country after Italy – the UK!
He is ready to talk to media about his exciting life with sports vehicles and his observations about the different ways Europe and Asia do business. Ducati has 55 dealerships in Northern Europe, 35 of which are in the UK.
Ducati says of its motorcycles that they have ‘style, sophistication and performance’ – Fabrizio personifies this and is worth talking to

Former UK Defence Secretary and former Minister of State specialising in business, energy and automotive.
Sir Michael served under David Cameron as the Minister of State in the departments responsible for Business, Energy and Industry Strategy. His brief included UK energy resilience and the UK’s automotive sector.
He was responsible for the UK’s defence under both David Cameron and Teresa May at the time of Russia’s initial invasion of Ukraine in 2014. As one of the country’s longest-serving defence secretaries, he also worked with Mrs May to stabilise NATO during the first Trump administration and met with President Trump several times.
Sir Michael has maintained his security and defence contacts and can be held up as one of the UK’s premier experts on the issues surrounding the current impasse. He also has a successful business career. Before entering Government he was co-founder of Just Learning Nurseries, with the well-known BBC TV ‘Dragon’, Duncan Bannatyne OBE.
After leaving Parliament he has become and adviser of several successful organisations including businesses providing energy from tidal power, and large funds investing in UK and overseas markets

Mo is the CBI’s Director of Economic Policy, with over 12 years of economics experience. At CBI, he leads a team focusing on tax, regulations, and economic policy development in the UK.

Previously, Mo served as Director of CBI Economics, overseeing research and analytical projects. He joined us from PwC, where he was an economic consultant and led projects such as the economic impact of the UK hosting COP26. He also led projects implementing economic and fiscal policies in various Middle Eastern and Central Asian countries.

Mo began his career at HM Treasury, and he later worked as a Senior Economist at UK Finance. With his expertise, he's helping shape policies to improve UK business competitiveness.

Prof Zeeshan Pervez is Director of Cyber Resilience and Artificial Intelligence Research Centre, and Professor of Cybersecurity at the University of Wolverhampton. He is a Senior Member of IEEE, an ACM Distinguished Speaker, a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (UK), and a Full Member of the EPSRC Peer Review College (UK).
He has a strong track record of successfully completing research, industry, and capacity-building projects funded by Innovate UK, the Scottish Funding Council, Scottish Innovation Centres, the European Commission, Erasmus+, Microsoft Research, and international research institutes. He has over 18 years of research and industry experience in addressing technological and societal challenges and in designing and developing enterprise-ready solutions.

His areas of expertise include Cybersecurity, Applied ML/AI, Internet of Things, Edge Computing, and Data Analytics. The application areas of his research include, but are not limited to, Cyber Resilience, Digital Twins, Industry 4.0, Smart Cities, Predictive Maintenance, Facilities Management, and Healthcare.
He is regularly invited by national and international research and academic institutes to deliver talks on topics ranging from Cyber Resilience of Critical Infrastructure, and Next-Generation Authentication Systems, to Digital Twin-enabled City Planning, to name a few.

He has successfully supervised to completion 29 postdoctoral fellows and postgraduate research/taught and undergraduate students (as lead and co-supervisor). He has served as a TPC member of over 100 conferences and as a regular reviewer for more than 30 IEEE Transactions, Elsevier, and Springer journals. He has chaired or evaluated over 35 doctoral exams for UK and international higher education institutes.
He is serving as an external examiner to several UK higher education institutes for their computing programme boards - postgraduate, undergraduate, and international provisions. He has led the development, validation, and delivery of postgraduate programmes, namely MSc Information & Network Security and MSc Advanced Computing (Big Data and IoT).

Ed is Executive Director for Strategy, Economy & Net Zero and Deputy Chief Executive of West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA).

His broad remit includes leading the WMCA’s work to drive economic growth in the region and achieving its ambition to be net zero by 2041. He also leads on housing strategy and heads up negotiations with Government on English devolution, coordinating the agreement and preparation for the Integrated Settlement and overseeing the West Midlands Futures work to establish a long-term, sustainable vision for the region.

Prior to joining the WMCA, Ed led an ambitious programme of work on people, power and place at the RSA. He previously led IPPR North for 9 years where he was a champion for devolution and much of the thinking behind the ‘Northern Powerhouse,’ working closely with several combined authorities in the north of England. Ed has also been an adviser to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government where he played a key role in developing the Sub-National Review (2007) and the Empowerment White Paper (2008).

Ed has a background in community engagement. He wrote Manchester’s first community engagement strategy and was a founder of the national Participatory Budgeting Unit. He is founder and chair of the Levenshulme Inspire community hub in inner-city Manchester and a qualified minister of religion in the United Reformed Church.

Ed has been Chair of the participation charity Involve since June 2019.

Jun Du is Professor of Economics at Aston Business School and Founding Director of the Centre for Business Prosperity. An expert in UK trade, internationalisation, and productivity, her research—funded by the ESRC, Leverhulme Foundation, and Department of Business and Trade (DBT)—informs public and policy debates on post-Brexit trade issues. She is Co-director of Trade and Public Policy (TaPP) Network. Professor Du is a member of the British Chamber of Commerce (BCC) Economic Advisory Council, and part of the Global Britain Challenge Group, Vice Chair of the Trade and Investment Panel for the International Chambers of Commerce, and advisor to the Midlands Engine Observatory Program Board and the Business Commission West Midlands Advisory Panel. A sought-after speaker and media commentator, her insights feature in the BBC, Financial Times, CNN, and ABC. Working closely with policymakers and industry, she supports efforts to enhance the UK’s trade performance and economic resilience.

Dr Graham Hoare has a distinguished engineering career and has made significant contributions to the global automotive sector for more than 27 years. He has held senior leadership and executive roles at Ford Motor Company, Jaguar Land Rover and BMW Group, operating in North America and Germany in addition to the UK.He holds six engineering patents and was awarded the IMechE James Clayton Prize in 2013 for his work on the Ford Ecoboost three-cylinder engine, which was the International Engine of the Year between 2012 and 2014 and continues to receive worldwide acclaim for design and performance. Graham is an active fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Mechanical Engineers and a recipient of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to the automotive industry.As CEO of the Manufacturing Technology Centre, he brings his passion for innovation, transformation and change management, as well as his knowledge and automotive experiences

Beth works within the Nations and Regions Investment Funds team at the British Business Bank, with a focus on managing the Investment Fund for Wales and Midlands Engine Investment Fund II. The £400 million Midlands Engine Investment Fund II offers a range of commercial finance options with small loans up to £100k, debt finance up to £2m and equity investment up to £5 million to support smaller businesses in the Midlands at all stages of their development.

Beth is a financial services and investment professional whose career has focussed on helping SMEs access finance to achieve their growth ambitions. Beth started her career at the Development Bank of Wales in various direct investment and portfolio management roles. She later joined global accountancy firm Grant Thornton where she was responsible for the roll out of an investment ready programme across Wales and the South-West of England. Before joining the British Business Bank, Beth ran her own consultancy business through which she delivered ‘investor readiness’ training and business coaching to the Welsh Government’s Enterprise Hubs, the Accelerated Growth programme, Business Wales and the Natwest Entrepreneurs Hub.

Charlie Courtney is the CBI’s Economic Policy Manager and overseas the organisation’s fiscal event process and leads engagement with HM Treasury. Prior to joining the CBI, Charlie spent two years working for a strategic consultancy where he led projects with high profile organisations across the Midlands, including the Midlands Engine and the University of Nottingham. Prior to that, Charlie spent five years in the Civil Service working across several departments, including the Cabinet Office, DHSC, and MHCLG.

Ranked as one of the UK's Most Influential Female Founders and known as the "big sister of entrepreneurship," Stephanie Melodia is the host of UK Top 20 Business & Top 5 Female Hosted Show, Strategy & Tragedy, having spent over a decade helping leaders and teams alike to drive innovation, foster creativity, and achieve growth by behaving like entrepreneurs.
Trusted by global brands like Soho House, WeTransfer, and Web Summit, Stephanie brings a unique blend of startup expertise, sharp storytelling, and actionable frameworks to her bold keynotes and dynamic workshops.
With her signature energy and unique insights from interviews with top founders & changemakers, Stephanie inspires teams to embrace agility, inject creativity, and "hack luck" for breakthrough results.

Ayhan Waheed, serves as the Retention Manager at Scholars School System. Following the completion of his Bachelor of Engineering with First Class Honours in Chemical Engineering, he was presented with several opportunities—but he chose to join Scholars with a singular purpose: to create meaningful pathways for underprivileged students and uplift our community through education.

As Director of Technical Services, Communication and Strategy at Wolfram Research Europe, Jon McLoone plays a key role in shaping the company’s technical business strategy and leading its consulting solutions team. With over 25 years of experience using Wolfram technologies, Jon has contributed to software development, system design, technical marketing, corporate policy, and business strategy.

Dr Shepherd is a Fujitsu Distinguished Engineer and lately the Director of the Digital Twin Programme Office in Fujitsu’s Centre for Cognitive and Advanced Technology. His career in technology and public policy spans over two decades, developing and using large data systems within the UK Government defence and security community, and in the private sector for tracking terrorist finance, money laundering, and sanctions evasion with Thomson Reuters before joining Fujitsu in early 2023.

Marie is a senior consultant at Ortecha, bringing extensive expertise in delivery, governance, and assurance, with hands-on experience in delivering complex cloud and data management solutions that drive measurable business transformation. Skilled in navigating intricate technical and vendor landscapes, Marie has successfully led teams of up to 350 people, accelerating architectural thinking and quickly delivering MVPs and RVPs that validate scalable proof-of-value capabilities. Her work has been instrumental in shaping tooling selection, driving commercial decisions, and setting roadmaps to address technical debt. As a specialist Execution Architect, Marie places business transformation at the heart of her work, consistently delivering excellence and building high-performing teams, particularly within highly regulated sectors. Notable successes include designing bespoke target operating models for Data Teams, CDOs, SDLCs, and productionising products.