Make UK National Manufacturing Conference

After a 25-year career in the Royal Navy, Mike worked for seven years starting in 2001 with Thales UK on the Aircraft Carrier project. During this time, he transitioned into Facilities and Health and Safety Management. Upon leaving Thales in 2008, Mike took on a role as an outsourced Facilities Manager for Balfour Beatty Workplace at Vitacress Salads and later spent a year with Mitie as an outsourced Facilities Manager at the Office for National Statistics. He then worked for seven years at Lymington Precision Engineers before moving to Fairline Yachts in 2018. In early 2021, he joined his current company, Oyster Yachts, as Group Head of Facilities and HSE, managing two sites in Southampton and two in Norfolk.

Rowan Crozier is CEO of Birmingham-based Brandauer, a 162-year-old metal stamping and precision toolmaking specialist that produces millions of parts that are sent across the world every week.

The Loughborough engineering graduate, who is chair of the Make UK National Advisory board and Co-Chair of the Industry Advisory Board for Birmingham City University, is a massive advocate of developing our engineers of the future, putting in place a bespoke apprenticeship programme that currently accounts for 15% of the firm’s workforce, whist advocating communication, technicality, and entrepreneurship as the core foundations of employability of all emerging engineers.

Rowan was awarded an MBE in 2024 for his services to manufacturing and enterprise.

Although he has now had a number of senior ministerial roles, Andrew is not your usual 'career politician'. 

After working in the City of London for PriceWaterhouse Coopers and NM Rothschild, he joined Sky plc where he spent a twenty-year career - serving for a time as the youngest Financial Director of any FTSE 100 company. Andrew also served for a year as non executive Chairman of Just Eat plc for which he was awarded Non-Executive Director of the Year by The Sunday Times.

He served as the Economic Secretary to the Treasury – also known as the ‘City’ Minister - in 2022 and 2023 and delivered a wide-ranging package of Brexit reforms to improve the competitiveness of the UK’s financial services sector, boost investment by British pension funds in Britain and support wealth creators. He was also the lead Treasury Minister on the successful rescue of Silicon Valley Bank UK. He now serves as the Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade.

Nina Gryf is a Senior Policy Manager at Make UK. She works closely on Make UK’s delivering Unlocking Innovation campaign, which strongly focuses on the role of innovation and technology in increasing productivity and competitiveness. Her role cuts across all of Make UK’s core campaigns, with a recent focus on ED&I.
 
Nina is the lead author Make UK’s Innovation Monitor which tracks manufacturers’ progress on digital adoption. She has spoken on the importance of accelerating digital adoption to manufacturers and policymakers alike and has spoken publicly on the need for Government to ensure the industry has access to skills and finance to take full advantage of Industrial Digital Technologies. She strongly advocates the Made Smarter initiative and has continued to call her its roll-out. Nina’s recent publications are 4IR: An Enabler to Green Manufacturing, which focused on how digital technology can support the industry’s net zero ambitions and Digital Adoption: The Missing Link to productivity growth.
 
Before working in Make UK’s Policy team, Nina spent three years focusing on Make UK’s campaigning for what is next post-EU referendum, with a particular focus on trade. Prior to this, Nina worked for the Work Foundations as an External Affairs Manager.

Barbara provides health, safety, environmental, quality and sustainability consultancy. Additionally, she compliments this by delivering training support for members and sharing her knowledge, expertise, and insight. Barbara represents Make UK in BSI’s HS/1 Occupational Health and Safety Management committee.

Barbara is able to draw upon extensive experience in management across multiple sectors, including manufacturing (pharmaceutical, petrochemical, FMCG), major construction projects and the waste and recycling industry.

Andrew Kinniburgh is Director-General of Make UK Defence, the Defence Trade Association belonging to Make UK - the Manufacturers' Organisation. He joined Make UK in 2019 from the Cabinet Office where he was Wider Government Engagement Lead for the Government Commercial Organisation, following a 25 year career in the defence and security industry. He spent nearly 10 years with Serco Defence, followed by senior appointments with Smiths Detection and two Ministry of Defence trading funds and a 7 year spell as an independent consultant. He holds a BA in Business from Heriot-Watt University and an MSc in International Defence Marketing from Cranfield University / UK Defence Academy. Andrew has been involved with Defence Ministries and businesses in the Defence and Security sectors across most European countries and in North America, as well as the UK. Make UK Defence represents 300 UK Defence Suppliers ranging from SMEs and mid tiers, to major Primes and is the lead Trade Association for the MOD's Defence Suppliers Forum SME Working Group.

Rob Law is the designer, founder and CEO of Trunki, the innovative company helping children to explore the world with their line of ride-on suitcases. He has led the business from an idea turned down by all the manufacturers and retailers he approached to a global business and leader in its sector.

As a design student, Rob entered a competition to design a new suitcase. Whilst researching in a shop he realised how dull luggage was, and drew inspiration from the toy department. He won the competition with a whole new idea – a suitcase for a child that they could also ride on. Advised to take the idea to market, Rob was rejected by manufacturers and retailers alike, always with the same response – luggage people said it was a toy; toy people said it was luggage. Rob licensed his idea to a manufacturer but the product didn’t take off, so he started his own business. Trunki invented and shaped a whole new sector in children’s luggage. It went on to sell millions, has won dozens of design awards, and inspired countless imitators.

Along the way Rob turned challenges into great opportunities. He famously rejected the offer he received on Dragons’ Den (after Theo Paphitis had broken one of the suitcases) but the exposure led to scores of orders and messages of support. When the airline ban on hand luggage was imposed, the company focused on domestic travel.

The Trunki company also went on to purchase a failing British factory in order to expand and improve their supply chain. The scale of the challenge for the company, now a manufacturer as well as a designer and brand, turned out to be huge. Rob installed a specialist in the sector to help turn around the facility from the bottom up, radically changing the culture and the practices on the shopfloor and in the boardroom.

Over two decades since he first had the idea, Rob remains a designer at heart and retains a thirst for new ideas and innovative solutions. He has gone on to launch two subsequent ventures - Aphelion Agency, which empowers brands to thrive on Amazon; and Zeepy, an innovative start-up devoted to enhancing natural sleep in infants and young children. He considers what it means to think differently and how any business can be innovative. He also looks at navigating a global marketplace and building a brand reflecting on export successes, including in China where Trunki is seen as a status symbol. He examines the lessons he’s learned in leadership, taking risks and understanding your customer, as well as the effects of the changing face of retail. He also explains his four core business values – dynamism, fun, responsibility, and innovation – which each employee defines their own way.

An experienced safety professional, Paul is the SHE Manager for leading engineering solutions company, BRUSH Group. Operating from a number of sites across the UK, Paul, and the dedicated team that he manages, provide safety guidance across a wide range of disciplines, including heavy-duty manufacturing, construction, civils, and working with high-voltage electricity.

Paul has enjoyed a long career with BRUSH, initially joining the company as a craft apprentice. He now works to apply his decades-long knowledge of the business and its operations to deliver practical solutions that create a safety culture which empowers individuals and encourages colleagues to think safe and work safe. Along with his practical experience of safe working, Paul has undertaken relevant safety training and attended many courses run by Make UK.

Laura McBrown, the Managing Director of G&B Electronics., is a dynamic businesswoman with 25 years of experience in the field of contract electronics manufacturing. Based in Bordon, Hampshire, Laura has made significant contributions to the company’s success across various sectors, including medical, military and aerospace.

A compassionate leader and champion of best practice development Laura’s visionary leadership has transformed the company’s culture, setting a clearer vision and introducing core values. Her achievements have been recognised by several. These prestigious accolades celebrate outstanding manufacturing leaders and their impact on UK businesses. Laura’s dedication to her talented team has been instrumental in achieving this recognition.

Laura is also a passionate ambassador for Manufacturing in the UK and diversity in business devoting time to the industry as MAKE UK Regional Advisory Board Chair, their National Advisory Board Deputy Chair and a member of Enginuity’s SME Advisory Group.