Humber Estuary Development Conference; Sponsored by Stantec

University of Hull – Professor Susan Lea, Vice Chancellor

University of Hull are an integral part of the Humber Estuary development plans and are extremely conscious of the ongoing need to evolve both their campus and curriculum offering to align with talent attraction and retention. As the University embark on devising their future estates strategy over the next year, this event will be key to them creating new relationships with the private sector from across the UK. Susan will be on hand to talk about the University’s role in the wider Humber development vision while also delivering valuable insights into the socio-economic factors influencing their development.

Humber LEP – Kishor Taylor, Chief Executive

More information to follow.

Lagoon Hull – Paul Hatley, Project Director

Costing £1.5bn and likely to be the biggest development scheme that the Humber sees in this generation, the Lagoon Hull project aims to dramatically re-shape the city’s waterfront across a six mile route while creating 14,000 jobs in doing so. While the project is still in early planning phases, significant progress is expected to be made in the immediate future and Tim will be actively engaging with our audience to ensure his dream becomes a reality.

East Riding of Yorkshire Council – Councillor Victoria Aitken, Portfolio Holder for Economic Development and Inward Investment

The Humber is home to some of Yorkshires most beloved tourist attractions but also to several struggling town centres and high streets and Victoria is at the forefront of changing their fortunes. As part of this session she will talk about the investment and development that is due to take place across the region, how East Riding Council is leading the way by funding million of pounds worth of change.

Hull City Council – Alex Codd, Assistant Director of Economic Development and Regeneration

Hull’s regeneration will take the shape of 12 key sites offering up unique investment opportunities. The plans highlight Hull City Council’s commitment to evolve, making the city less reliant on retail and creating a long-term sustainable city centre economy. The sites have the potential to develop as many as 2,500 homes and apartments to be built in the city centre, as well as opportunities for leisure and retail. Alex will discuss the regeneration and what opportunities lie ahead for developers.

Yorkshire Water – Lee Pitcher, Head of Resilience and Partnerships (YW) and General Manager (LWW)

Yorkshire Water are extremely active in the development realm across four counties. Whether that being through their ground-breaking ‘Living with Water’ programme or the ‘Sustainable Landscapes Humber’ initiative they are integral to water security, clean growth and healthy community development. As well as investing millions in vital infrastructure over the coming years, they are playing a key role in unlocking low carbon developments and on this session Lee will outline their plans.

Ørsted – Emma Toulson, Lead Stakeholder Relations Advisor

Ørsted is a green energy provider that has been ranked as the most sustainable energy company in the world for three years in a row. They develop, construct and operate offshore and onshore wind farms, solar farms and energy storage facilities and bioenergy products to their customers. The green energy provider is currently undergoing construction of Hornsea 1 off the coast of the Humber region, that when completed, will be the largest offshore wind farm in the world, capable of powering well over one million UK homes. The project also includes a reported £1.2 billion deal for vital infrastructure linking Hornsea 1 to the National Grid on the South Humber Bank.

AURA – Louise Smith, Director

As a catalyst for collaboration Aura brings together industry partners to harness and drive innovation in the offshore wind sector, rooted in the Humber at the heart of the UK’s Energy Estuary. Rooted in the Humber with national and international reach, Aura aims to help solve the technical and operational challenges facing offshore wind and facilitate the development of skills and expertise to meet the needs of this rapidly growing industry, worldwide. Louise will be on hand to talk about the cross-built environment collaboration she is trying to foster and to underpin the development discussion with thought leadership

C4DI – John Connolly, Managing Director

As the Humber’s primary centre for digital innovation and ambassadors for creating the UK’s most advanced digital economy, John will talk about the various projects taking place across the region’s towns and cities to enhance digital connectivity and create the infrastructure needed to attract major international investment.

Yorkshire Energy Park – Jo Barnes, Director

With the exciting £200m development of a Yorkshire Energy Park imminently heading to the Humber, Jo will be on hand to unveil the details behind the project which will include a new energy centre and primary substation, a huge new data centre, hundreds of commercial units for businesses and start-ups, a national centre of excellence for education training, short stay accommodation, new sports facilities and 45 hectacres of green space.

North Lincolnshire Council – Simon Green, Deputy Chief Executive

As a key regional stakeholder, North Lincolnshire Council sits just south of the Humber Estuary. The announcement of the Humber freeport has created a great opportunity for economic development across both regions, creating thousands of jobs in North Lincolnshire. The council is also actively expanding its own regional economy with projects like the £4.5m highway scheme that will unlock 60 acres of land for commercial development and enable the building of homes. Redeveloping Scunthorpe town centre is another scheme that has the potential to open up the North Lincolnshire economy, looking to benefit from a huge £10.7m redevelopment fund.

Built Environment Networking – Amanda Griffiths, Director

Amanda is one of the Co-Founder’s of Built Environment Networking – formed almost 10 years ago.

She’ll be hosting throughout the day, running the days proceedings and managing the interaction between our delegates and the speakers.

University of Hull – Becky Huxley-Binns, Pro Vice Chancellor for Education

As the modern needs of a student continually evolve, Becky is at the helm at the University in regards to syllabus design, private sector collaboration to provide employment opportunities and also ensuring the institution maintains a strong global reputation. With more than 16,000 students living in Hull, it is vital that the Humber retains the best talent in order to grow economically and Becky will be on hand to discuss initiatives she is leading.

GB Recruitment – Antonio Tombanane, Managing Director

Described as one of the most forward thinking employers and innovators in Yorkshire, Antonio is closer to the action than many when it comes to assessing the jobs market, emerging sectors and skills shortages in the Humber region. As organiser of the annual Humber Tech expo he works closely with all the other stakeholders in East Yorkshire to connect talent with opportunity and on this session he will deliver some expert insight into the gaps that need to be filled in the short, medium and long term.

Groupe Atlantic – Elaine Lancaster, Chief Technology & Innovation Officer

Groupe Atlantic are a French multinational green energy company who have found themselves a home in the Humber. Part of their mission statement is to pioneer a world leading low-carbon economy for the region and as part of this panel Elaine will talk about the development work associated to this goal.

Drax – Karl Smyth, Group Head of Policy & Government Relations

A major protagonist in the multi-billion pound proposed development of the Humber Zero Carbon cluster, Drax are leading the way on ambitions to make the Humber the UK’s first zero carbon region. Working in partnership with Equinor and the National Grid, Drax will be developing a carbon neutral power station to put Britain at the heart of the global energy revolution. 2021 will be a key year for the scheme and Karl will be on hand to explain to delegates the current development timeline and also the ultimate goals of the project.

Environment Agency – Philip Winn, Humber Manager

The Environment Agency is the key voice behind the Humber 2100+ initiative which will see a large programme of work being delivered to manage tidal flooding around the Humber over the next 100 years, and where over half a million people are at risk. With over £150m of Government funding being invested in projects between 2009 and 2021, and similar rates of investment looking forward as the new strategy starts to be implemented, this is important business for the area.  Philip will be on hand to talk about the proposals and timeline for work while also taking delegates behind the curtain on some new innovation that his team are leading.

Humber LEP – Stephen Savage, Chair of the Humber LEP Employment and Skills Board & Vice-Chair of the Humber LEP

More information to follow.

PAGABO – Simon Toplass, Chief Executive

Pagabo is leading the way in the sector with innovative new frameworks and their approach to development focusing heavily on social value, mental health and wellbeing. Their ideology isn’t being overlooked as they continue to see major growth with new and existing clients across the UK, with an ever growing list of projects in the portfolio and a team growing at an exponential rate. Simon will bring his expertise to the event, whilst sharing details on their approach to procurement, and intel on new and existing frameworks coming up for renewal.

North East Lincolnshire Council – Rob Walsh, Chief Executive

North East Lincolnshire council is a key regional stakeholder just south of the Humber. The council has a variety of planned major investment and infrastructure works throughout the area, with significant works taking place in Grimsby and Cleethorpes over the coming months. Additionally, the South Humber Industrial Investment Programme (SHIIP) is a council-led £42 million project to deliver major infrastructure, industrial sites, create jobs and to stimulate the North East Lincolnshire economy.

Grimsby Institute – Gill Alton, Chief Executive

With a large estate featuring campuses in Grimsby, Scarborough and Skegness, Gill is one of the most influential education leaders in the Humber and North Yorkshire. As part of this session she will be discussion how the built environment in colleges need to develop to play a key role in attracting and retaining talent to the region.

Consultant – Bill Walker, Higher Education and Business Professional

Bill was an award-winning journalist and Operations Director in the newspaper industry before joining the University of Hull in 2003 to take them closer to the  business community. He secured funding for a new Enterprise Centre, opened by the Duke of Edinburgh, helping launch around 150 new start-up businesses. He was a founding member of City Digital, C4Di and For Entrepreneurs Only and led University involvement in building the flagship Ergo Business Centre and Aura Innovation Centre at Humber Bridgehead. Most recently he led University collaborations with Government at local, regional and national levels as well as with a host of business organisations, including the CBI. He retired from full-time working in April 2020 but continues to help out locally as Advocacy Associate with Marketing Humber and with Humber Business Week and nationally with Innovate UK and other business/education networks.

Associated British Ports – Simon Bird, Director ABP Humber

ABP Humber are undertaking a major redevelopment programme which includes a £310m collaboration with Siemens for the Green Port Hull development, a £26m Grimsby River terminal development and further improvements scheduled across all four of their sites in the region. As part of this session Simon will go into further detail about his plans to transform their property over the coming years.

Stantec – Jane Hirst, Director

More information to follow.

Stantec – Gary Sorge, Vice President, Community Development, Discipline Leader (Landscape Architecture)

More information to follow.

Stantec – Simon O’Byrne, Senior Vice President, Business Leader, Community Development

More information to follow.

Stantec – Jacquie Christodoulides, Operations Director

More information to follow.

Wykeland Group – Dominic Gibbons, Managing Director

Renowned as trend setters and market leaders for development across East Yorkshire and the Humber, Wykeland group have six active development sites across the region. Experts in placemaking and regeneration, Dominic will talk about their current and forthcoming projects, his passion for the area and what he thinks needs to be done to revitalise the various city and town centres it covers.

Lampada Digital – Andy Parkinson, Chief Executive

Andy is Chair of Marketing Humber and has recently been appointed as CEO of Lampada, a rapidly growing technology business owned by the University of Hull. Andy has a varied background as a senior executive, spanning many different sectors having worked for a diverse mix of organisations. This includes Spencer Group, one of the largest privately owned engineering firms in the UK, the telecoms giant KCOM PLC, and has worked in the Fast Moving Consumable Goods industry with some of the biggest brands in Europe, including Kellogg’s, Cadbury’s and Guinness. Andy is a technology evangelist having successfully run a bespoke Consultancy Quantum Insight and a long term Director of C4DI, a £15m technology incubator which has now expanded into the Cities digital cluster.

Equinor – Torbjorg Klara Fossum, Vice President of Global CCS Solutions

As major news emerges about the proposed development of a world leading clean hydrogen plant at Saltend, Torbjorg is joining this session to deliver exclusive news about the scheme and the game changing impact it will have on the Humber’s reputation in the global arena.

Phillips 66 – Darren Cunningham, Lead Director and Executive Manager Humber Refinery

Phillips 66 are leading on the major development site entitled Humber Zero which is a large scale decarbonisation project built around one of the UK’s most efficient generating assets and an industrial hub in Immingham. It will be the world’s largest development of its kind with the organisation moving towards finalising investment for a 2023 start date and hoping to be fully operational by 2026. Darren will be on hand to explain the scale of the project and the economic growth that it will unlock.