UKREiiF West Yorkshire Programme 2024

10.00 - 10.50 am 

Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire

Mandy Ridyard, Mayor of West Yorkshire's Business Advisor and Director, Produmax

Asma Iqbal, Partner, Chadwick Lawrence

Simon Wright, Chief Operating Officer, Pexa

One year on from the launch of our ambitious West Yorkshire Plan we discuss the opportunities emerging from our West Yorkshire Economic Strategy, set to be launched later this year

We’ll highlight how West Yorkshire's innovative clusters and sector strengths in areas such as healthtech, culture, digital, AI and space can be powerful drivers of a modern, inclusive economy.

We’ll also launch our new investment prospectus, detailing investible propositions across the region.

2.00 - 2.50 pm 

Zandra Moore, CEO, Panintelligence

Moshood Yahaya, Founder of the Applied AI Society, University of Bradford

Leeds Institute of Data Analytics

Sherin Mathew, Founder and CEO, AI Tech UK

West Yorkshire is a world leader in data and AI and has been named by the UK Government as a site of High Potential Opportunity in this area.

Hear from pioneering businesses from across the region as they discuss how generative AI and data has driven their investment opportunities and why they chose West Yorkshire to start, grow or scale their ambitions.

3.00 - 3.50 pm 

Steve Mawson, Chief Executive, Kirklees Council

Sue Cooke, CEO, 3M Buckley Innovation Centre, University of Huddersfield

Tori Critchley FRICS, Development Director – Innovation, Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust

Amir Hussain, Founder and CEO of YemeTech

David Shepherd, Strategic Director - Place, Bradford Council

West Yorkshire’s global strengths in health, lifesciences and digital have been recognised with the announcement of a new flagship Investment Zone.

In this session we will unveil opportunities for healthtech and digital tech anchored around innovation sites in Leeds, Bradford and Huddersfield.

Set to unlock £220 million in new investment and create 2,500 jobs in our region, the West Yorkshire Healthtech and Digital Tech Investment Zone will accelerate growth in these sectors.

9.00 - 9.50 am 

Councillor Hinchcliffe, Leader of Bradford Council 

Nigel Foster Hydrock / Southern Gateway Board Chair

Simon Warburton, Executive Director for Transport, West Yorkshire Combined Authority

This session will explore the transformative power of investing in rail, infrastructure and mass transit - for Bradford, West Yorkshire, north of England and the UK.

With the historic commitment from Government for a new through new station for Bradford, the £2bn announced by the Prime Minister last autumn adding to the £ ½ bn secured for the Bradford-Leeds electrification and the £100m for a new Network Rail depot to service the electric train fleet (Shipley). With station renewal at Keighley, a new platform for Bradford Forster Square Station (providing more direct London services) and the Bradford Line coming forward in phase 1 of the WY Mass Transit designs, this is a scale of investment that will benefit the whole of the North. Representing an unprecedented opportunity to connect cities and places across the North with a new hub in Bradford, working alongside Leeds, to drive productivity, growth and future prospects for all our communities.

10.00 - 10.50 am 

Ben Still, Chief Executive Officer, West Yorkshire Combined Authority

Lorna Pimlott, Managing Director, UKIB

Nathan Sanders, Managing Director - Distributed Energy, SSE

Cllr Scott Patient, Cabinet Member, Climate Action, Active Travel and Housing

In West Yorkshire we have ambitious plans to become a net zero region by 2038.

Meeting this goal will require urgent, decisive and collaborative action with public and private sector partners working together to find locally led solutions.

We’ll discuss how to build relationships between local government and the private sector and attracting investments for net zero projects to deliver on our region’s climate ambitions.

11.00 - 11.50 am  

Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire

Simon Warburton, Executive Director for Transport, West Yorkshire Combined Authority

Angela Barnicle, Chief Officer, Asset Management and Regeneration, Leeds City Council

Angela Blake, Assistant Director - Economy and Development, Bradford Council

Marilyn Grazette, Transport for West Midlands

West Yorkshire has unveiled an ambitious vision for integrated transport, bringing together mass transit, major changes to our region’s buses and promoting active travel.

But more than helping people get from one point to another, integrated transport can be an opportunity to redefine our communities, champion sustainability and make sure everyone can access opportunities.

Join us to discover how these strategies form the bedrock of a vision where integrated transport becomes a driving force for positive change in the heart of West Yorkshire.

2.00 - 2.50 pm 

Nick Atkin, Chief Executive, Yorkshire Housing

Inga Jirgensone, Group Head of Business Development, Energy Saving Trust

Nigel Banks, Housing Technical Director, Octopus

Emma Harvey-Smith, Programme Director Built Environment, Green Finance Institute

We have ambitious targets to invest in our housing stock through a region-wide retrofit programme so everyone in West Yorkshire can live in a warm, comfortable and low carbon home. 

This session will set out the vision for sustainable housing, and discuss practical measures we can take to attract investment for retrofit activity, prepare supply chains to deliver retrofit at scale, and innovative finance solutions to make sure all residents and communities can benefit from this programme.

3.00 - 3.45pm 

Women make up just 1% of workers in skilled trades – a figure that has barely increased in a decade. This is despite 23% of women and girls saying they would like to get involved in the construction industry.

We want to inspire women and girls to see construction as a viable career. Through training, skills and education, and by giving the time, support and permission for women and girls to be, do and achieve whatever they wish, we can help build a more diverse industry.

Join us for this informal networking session to meet other women who work in the construction industry. 

4.30 – 6.30pm

Sustainability is firmly at the heart of everything we do in West Yorkshire to help us create a greener, brighter future for all. Creativity and collaboration between businesses, developers, education, and the next generation is key to reaching our goals, we hope to spark inspiration and discussion at our event.

Fringe event with Muse and West Yorkshire Combined Authority.

Book your place 

10.00 - 10.50 am 

Nicky Chance-Thompson, CEO, Piece Hall

Jamie Andrews, Director of Public Engagement, British Library

Shanaz Gulzar, Creative Director, Bradford UK City of Culture 2025

Nat Edwards, Director General and Master of the Armouries, Royal Armouries

Ruth Pitt, Chair, National Poetry Centre

West Yorkshire’s creative and cultural heritage is world renowned, with a contemporary arts and cultural scene that rivals anything the UK has to offer.

With plans to develop a new site for British Library North in Leeds, create a National Poetry Centre led by Poet Laureate Simon Armitage, years of culture like Culturedale, Our Year, Bradford 2025, and the regeneration of our industrial past into arts and cultural spaces, culture is part of who we are and what we do.

We’ll examine the potential of culture as a lever to both level up West Yorkshire, by creating jobs, growth, and attracting investment, and its vital role in inspiring people across the region.

11.00 am - 11.50 am 

Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire

Georgina Johnson, Programme Manager, Ahead Partnership

Steven Adam, Transport Planner, Mott MacDonald

Young people from across West Yorkshire

During this interactive panel and Q&A in collaboration with Mott Macdonald and Ahead Partnership, students from local schools will share their thoughts and perspectives on mass transit.

They will share why they believe it’s so important for the youth voice to be included in public consultation on major civic projects such as the proposed new mass transit system in West Yorkshire.

12.00 - 12.50 pm

Nathan Clarke, Owner, Brudenell Social Club

Nicky Chance-Thompson, CEO, Piece Hall

Lee Brooks, Co-founder, Production Park

Qaisar Mahmood, CEO, Radio Sangam

Beth Sidwell, Head of Public Affairs, BPI

West Yorkshire is home to England’s fastest growing regional creative sector, a £2 billion powerhouse with music and the performing arts at its heart.

From A-list international touring artists rehearsing in Wakefield, to the revitalisation of heritage buildings as live venues, and year-long festivals of music, this session will examine how a strong music and creative sector can boost the economy, create jobs and attract investment.