IoD Commonwealth Business Conference and Dinner
The IoD was delighted to host the Commonwealth Business Conference & Dinner at The Grand Hotel, in Birmingham on 19th July
It has been an exciting fortnight for Birmingham! In the run up to the games, the IoD was delighted to host our Commonwealth Business Conference & Dinner at The Grand Hotel, in Birmingham on 19th July.
The conference brought together a wide range of topical speakers, including:
- John Crabtree OBE, Lord Lieutenant and Chairman, Commonwealth Games 2022 Organising Committee
- Andy Street CBE, Mayor, West Midlands
- Dr Arjoon Suddhoo, Deputy Secretary General for the Commonwealth
- Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson DBE DL, member of the House of Lords and former Paralympian
- Prof. Geoff Thompson MBE FRSA DL, Deputy Chair, Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games
- Dr Shashank Vikram, Consul General of India, Birmingham
- Lord Rami Ranger CBE, member of the House of Lords and Founder, Sun Mark
- Andrew Mitchell CMG, Director General, Department for International Trade, formerly HM Commissioner for Europe
- Cllr Ian Ward, Leader, Birmingham City Council
- Matthew Hammond, PWC Strategic International Markets Lead Partner, Midlands Region Leader and Chairman, West Midlands Growth Company
The engaging content allowed attendees to gain an insight into what the Commonwealth Games 2022 means to Birmingham and provided fantastic networking opportunities, connecting business leaders from across the region.
IoD Greater Birmingham Chair, Andy Wilkinson of OWB Creative, was an energetic and focused host for the conference, ably capturing the excitement in the room and navigating the multiple speaker sessions throughout the day. A huge thank you to Paul Cadman, IoD West Midlands Ambassador for Entrepreneurship for his assistance in hosting the Q&As.
We were especially honoured to be able to showcase such an inspiring and diverse speaker faculty for the IoD Commonwealth Business Conference: thank you to all our speakers for your incredible input.
In the evening, the IoD held a black-tie dinner, where we celebrated the cultural diversity, community, sport, and talent shown throughout the Commonwealth Games, with Phil Oldershaw as our brilliant MC for the night.
It was a particular honour to be joined by The Right Worshipful, The Lord Mayor, Councillor Maureen Cornish.
Pianist Rekesh Chauhan began the evening’s entertainment with a poignant musical performance. We later enjoyed listening to the talented Black Voices and the melodic 1973 Band.
In an after-dinner highlight, the IoD’s guests were privileged to hear from and be joined by former Olympian Roger Black, who spoke about his journey as an athlete, the challenges he faced and how he overcame them. Roger remains relevant, inspirational and charming; with a fair few roars of laughter before the night was out.
This was a magnificent and memorable event! A huge thank you to our sponsors, University College Birmingham, Lloyds Banking Group Plc, Find Me A Solicitor and Bootcamp Media for making this possible.
Thank you to the IoD ambassador community for all your hard work and the long hours you dedicated to making this event a success!
