MD Luke Parker attends Midlands Economic Summit 2025

Thank you to Philip Brooks-Stephenson for the kind invitation to join him at the Midlands Economic Summit 2025, held at the VOX Conference Centre, Birmingham.

The Summit brought together an impressive lineup of speakers and regional leaders to discuss the key challenges and opportunities facing the Midlands. Among the distinguished contributors were Lord Ravensdale, Tom Collins MP (Worcester), Fabrizio Cazzoli (Ducati), Dr Graham Hoare (MTC), Sir Michael Fallon (former UK Defence Secretary), and Mitchell Barnes of RYSE 3D, a prominent voice for SMEs.

This annual gathering is the largest of its kind across the region, uniting business leaders, senior policymakers, and parliamentarians from both the East and West Midlands. The day was packed with thought-provoking discussions, keynote speeches, and collaborative panels—all aimed at shaping the economic future of the region.

Shaping the Midlands’ Future: Key Themes Explored

Creating Clarity Amid Complexity
The Summit tackled the most pressing issues affecting regional progress, exploring several critical themes:

• Globalisation is Dead
  Addressing the impact of global tariffs on supply chains and the adaptive strategies of industries such as automotive.
• The Productivity Puzzle
  Exploring how the region can stimulate growth through innovation, investment, and upskilling the workforce.
• The AI Revolution
  Investigating the transformative potential of AI in sectors including manufacturing and logistics, and its broader societal implications.
• Regional Resilience
  Highlighting strategies to secure critical infrastructure—from energy to transport—against future uncertainty.

Connecting with Leaders Across the Region

It was a pleasure to spend the day with a number of other inspiring leaders at Philip’s table, including:

• Dr Sarah Furness, PhD, HM Lord-Lieutenant of Rutland
• Colonel Keith Spiers, OBE, TD, Head of UK Engagement, British Army
• Ian Morgan, OBE, FCLIT, Deputy Chairman, Wellglade Group
• Dawn Edwards, MBA, MCMI, FInstLM, Managing Director, Challenge Consulting & East Midlands Chair of FSB
• Luke Wilmott, Managing Director, Byomni Group

Events like the Midlands Economic Summit are pivotal to ensuring our region’s voice is heard, our priorities are aligned, and that we move forward together—particularly in ensuring the East Midlands is well-represented with strong leadership and bold vision.

We look forward to seeing how the insights shared at this year’s Summit will shape policy, innovation, and investment across the Midlands in the months ahead.

 

————————————————————————————————————————————

Acres have a range of standard products but also support clients with custom machinery and medium-high volume products such as trolleys, stillages etc. 

We have manufactured lots of different tables / workstations / workbenches for various industries.

We also manufacture access platforms, jigs and fixtures and many other types of production support solutions / products. 

Talk to us today about your requirements: [email protected] / 01332695240 / Contact Us Form

 

Click on the icon to check out our social media! Please follow, like and share!

Want to know more about Acres Engineering?

We are based in the UK from our Headquarters in Derbyshire, England and have a European office in Malaga, Spain within the EU.

 

Find out more about where we have been and what we have been up to by checking out our latest blog posts.

Take a look at how we support of the Armed Forces, STEM/Schools and Charities. 

As a world leader in our field, we offer a range of information guides sharing best practice with our clients.

We make it easy to engage with us, we are approved on: EcoVadis (external) / JOSCAR (external) / AVETTA (external) / COUPA (external) / SAP ARIBA (external) / DEEPSTREAM (external) ….you can download our BSI / Insurance certificates here.