Meet the speakers

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.

Award-winning journalist and broadcaster Steph McGovern is the presenter of the eponymous Steph's Packed Lunch, Channel 4's daily live lunchtime show. Steph is also one of the hosts of Have I Got News For You on BBC One and regularly appears on TV and radio panel shows. Prior to this, Steph worked in financial journalism for over 15 years and spent 8 years on BBC Breakfast, travelling all over the UK to cover economic news and broadcast live from over 500 businesses. Whether speaking to factory workers or FTSE 100 CEOs, Steph's mission was to uncover and explain the real economy. This is something she has continued in her Channel 4 show, with regular features such as her Small Business Market and Job Clinic. Away from news, Steph launched her own CBBC show looking for the next generation of entrepreneurs, Pocket Money Pitch. On BBC Two's Made in Great Britain, she joined 21st century makers exploring the skills and industries that built the nation. She co-hosted five series of the popular BBC One show Shop Well For Less and four series of the consumer rights institution Watchdog. And she joined Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall to present the BBC One health show Easy Ways to Live Well. Before becoming a correspondent, Steph was the lead producer of financial news for the BBC, working with then Business Editor Robert Peston at the forefront of the award-winning coverage of the credit crunch and banking crisis. She soon began broadcasting herself, and Steph delivered the business news on 5Live, Radio 4, and on the Chris Evans show on Radio 2 before getting a full-time role on BBC Breakfast. Originally from Middlesbrough, Steph started as an apprentice engineer at Black & Decker where, aged 19, she won the title of Young Engineer for Britain before studying at University College London. Outside of work, Steph is involved in community and education projects. She is a mentor for young people in her native Teesside and runs workshops with schoolchildren around the North East. Steph is a patron of the charity Rubies, supporting disadvantaged children, and is a former champion Irish dancer.

Waleed provides consultancy and training services in several environmental areas, including waste and resource efficiency audits, net zero gap analysis, environmental management systems, and advice on waste treatment technologies. He has over 20 years national and international experience working in academia, government and consultancy on various sustainability projects. 

Chris leads on Make UK’s mission to promote and improve health, safety, and environmental management in organisations across the UK. Chris started at Make UK (formerly EEF) as HSCE Leader before progressing to Principal Advisor, then Product Development and Delivery Lead and, finally, Head of Learning before his current role. Prior to working for Make UK, Chris was QHSE Manager at Alstom Power

Robert Peston is ITV’s Political Editor and host of their flagship politics and current affairs show, Peston. He covers the latest happenings in Westminster and interviews important players on the national and international political scenes. In addition, he co-hosts, with Steph McGovern, the podcast The Rest Is Money where they explore what we need to know about the economic issues that affect our everyday lives, decode business jargon, and revisit some of the biggest financial events of the last half century.

Prior to his high-profile move to ITV, Robert was the BBC’s Economics Editor, revealing the stories behind the statistics and explaining the implications of domestic, European, and global economic shifts. Before that, as Business Editor, he broadcast and published a series of exclusive and influential stories about the global financial situation. He revealed the crises at Northern Rock and RBS, the emergency rescue of HBOS, and the tumult around the credit crunch, bailouts, and austerity.

Before joining the BBC, Robert was City and Assistant Editor of the Sunday Telegraph, in charge of the business and money sections, and the FT's Financial Editor. At the FT, he was a member of the editorial board and earlier he served as its Political Editor, Banking Editor, and founder of the investigations unit.

Away from the cameras Robert has also won plaudits for his online journalism. He is the author of critically acclaimed books including How Do We Fix This Mess? and Who Runs Britain?. Both examine the causes and longterm implications of the 2008 financial crisis. In Bust? he considers the state of the economy, society and politics and explains the urgent need to remodel institutions, learn lessons from other countries, and embrace AI, a subject Robert is particularly passionate about and engaged with. Whilst in WTF?, described by the Financial Times as “mandatory reading”, he takes a broader look at the world, what’s gone wrong, and proposes possible solutions across politics, society and business.

Amongst over thirty journalism awards Robert has to his name, he has won the Royal Television Society's Journalist of the Year, Specialist Journalist of the Year, and Scoop of the Year (twice), the Wincott Prize for financial journalism, and the Broadcasting Press Guild's award for Best Performer in a non-acting role.

Robert has written and presented several documentaries and factual series, notably four films about China's boom and possible bust, two on the EU referendum, three films on the financial crisis, and the popular series Robert Peston Goes Shopping. Away from journalism Robert is also the founder of the education charity Speakers for Schools, and the Vice President of Hospice UK.

Stephen Phipson CBE has been the Chief Executive Officer of Make UK since joining in 2017. Stephen previously spent 5 years as a senior civil servant holding the position of Head of the Defence and Security Organisation within the Department for International trade delivering export support to UK defense and security businesses prior to this Stephen held the position of Director for Security Industry Engagement within the Office for Security and Counter Terrorism at the Home Office. Before serving in the UK Government Stephen spent 35 years in senior roles in the manufacturing industry including 15 years with Smiths Group plc as President of Smiths Detection where he was awarded a CBE in 2010 for services to the Security industry. Stephen has worked extensively abroad in high technology manufacturing businesses and started his career as an engineering apprentice with the Plessey company.

Tim Shipman is the Chief Political Commentator and former Political Editor of the Sunday Times. In over 15 years of journalism he has reported on some of the biggest events in British, American and international politics.

Before joining the Sunday Times, Tim served as Deputy Political Editor of the Daily Mail, and as Washington Correspondent for the Sunday Telegraph. He also held several posts, both Political and Foreign, at the Daily and Sunday Express.

Tim has reported on stories from the war in Kosovo to Bill Clinton's impeachment. He’s covered security and international relations, and led the Express’s coverage of the Iraq War, reporting from the US Central Command in Doha.

In the UK, Tim is a familiar face in the corridors of Westminster and has insider knowledge on the plots, personalities and procedures that define parliamentary life. As well as serious insight in to the political events of the day, and the likely outcomes, he also delivers amusing anecdotes from his time following the Obama campaign to the secrets of the Commons’ bars and committee rooms.

Tim is the author of the revealing book All Out War: The Full Story of How Brexit Sank Britain's Political Class. The book, compiled with access to some of the key players in the EU referendum campaign including Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and Nigel Farage, looks at the events leading up to and during the campaign that would change the face of UK politics more than any other for a generation. The follow-up, Fall Out: A Year of Political Mayhem examines the tumult following the election of Theresa May as PM through to the the snap election that followed a 12 months later. As well as his Sunday Times role Tim has also written for The Spectator and Total Politics, and is an avid Twitter user sharing his entertaining take on politics and occasionally sport.

Dan is Head of Sales and has been with Make UK for nearly 10 years. He is experienced at helping industry with sustainability improvements, achieving net zero goals and helping UK businesses meet people and safety objectives and compliancy.

Andrea Wilson is a Director of Hone-All Precision, a specialist SME based in Leighton Buzzard offering precision machining services in deep hole boring, deep hole drilling, CNC honing and CNC turning, with a skilled team of forty-two.

Hone-All is a successful company with a vibrant and strong brand, recognised throughout the industry and regularly cited as an exemplar business for continuous improvement and regular investment in both their teams and technology.

The business services over four thousand customers who represent every industry including Aerospace, Defence, Automotive, Petrochemical, Nuclear, and Construction.

Andrea has spent over 25 years working to improve the awareness, recognition, and image of the industry within the UK and has been active in influencing the Government’s approach and focus to ensure long term manufacturing strategic planning and success.

This included membership of the EEDA Manufacturing Panel, the Automotive Academy Steering Committee, the NSAM / SEMTA skills Council for the Eastern region and the MTA Training & Education Committee.

She was Chair of the Make UK Eastern Regional Advisory Board for over 10 years and still sits on the Make UK RAB.

She is a passionate campaigner for a dedicated Minister for Manufacturing to represent engineering and manufacturing and improve the knowledge of, and support for, SME businesses within Government in the hope of changing the “one size fits all” approach once and for all.