The summit will be held at The Point at Lancashire County Cricket Club, a brand new conference venue at Old Trafford, Manchester’s world-famous cricket ground.
I spoke to Manchester MBA student Daniel Taffler who is organizing this year’s Manchester Business Summit:
- What was your motivation to organise the Manchester Business Summit?
We wanted to put on an event to bring together innovative business leaders and academics to find ways that business could succeed in this tough economic climate. Manchester benefits from having a fantastic business community and world-leading academics living side by side, but it's rare to have the two groups discussing these issues in a public forum, so we were excited by the possibility to create a great event.
- What is the goal of the summit?
To create a place for business people, academics, alumni and MBAs to come together to discuss topics important to doing business in the current economic climate.
- What are your views on the subject of the summit - Sink, Swim or Fly: opportunities in a post-recession world?
It's difficult to tell how the economy is likely to develop, but whereas the overall outlook isn't great, there are always some companies that significantly outperform the average. Even a recession can be a great time for some people to do business. We really wanted to understand what those successful businesses were doing that helped them outperform the competition during these times, and that's one of the key objectives of the summit.
- Which speakers have you got attending?
We have keynote speeches by Michael Parker CBE (former CEO of Dow and BNFL and current chair of Liverpool Vision) and John Timpson CBE (CEO of Timpsons) as well as executives and senior management from companies such as Cisco, Cargill, Citigroup, Morrisons, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Talktalk Technology, BP, N Brown, Peel Energy, A large Chinese fund, The Co-operative and many others. Full details of our speakers can be found on our website, click HERE.
- How did you decide which speakers you wanted?
We looked at some major topics affecting business at the moment and then tried to find speakers who had experience and insight on the topic, then tried to put together groups of people that would give different but complementary perspectives on issues.
- Who are you most excited to hear speak?
I feel very spoilt for choice, but I'm particularly looking forward to the IT&Technology session, which will be looking at how Cloud computing will revolutionise business, but also look into some emerging technologies that could be 'the next big thing after Cloud' - 3d printing and next-generation CRM.
- Will you tell me about the agenda for the day?
The day is broken down into opening and closing keynote speakers, panel discussions on Finance and Natural Resources, and breakout sessions on IT&Technology, Entrepreneurship and CSR, followed by networking drinks to finish the day.
- How many people do you think will be attending?
We have 300 business people, academics, alumni and MBAs attending the event as well as some journalists from the BBC and business publications.
- What is the benefit of attending this event?
Learning and networking - hearing cutting-edge ideas in various business areas from people who've actually made them work in practice, having the opportunity to interact with them through Q&A and then network together during the breaks and after the event. Nice lunch too!
To find out more about the event and book your ticket visit the Manchester Business Summit website.
Student Reviews
Alliance Manchester Business School
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