Our 16th January breakfast event featured 4 short industry pitches in addition to the networking opportunities.
Simon Chiva from ecoSMARTER spoke about; how energy prices are set to rise by at least 25% by 2020, adding greatly to business costs. However, new technologies are making it much easier to understand how to reduce energy use, often through low cost solutions.
Joe Flanagan from the University of Salford spoke about the common perception that the role of Universities is to teach and to carry out research (the relevance of which to the real world is questionable). From the outside they are often seen as large impenetrable institutions. In reality, Universities have a great deal to offer to business and now take the ‘academic engagement’ agenda very seriously. Joe gave an overview of how this engagement can take place and the benefits for business in engaging with Universities.
Richard Davies from Essar spoke about his journey through his Advanced Level Apprenticeship provided by TTE, through to his current role working for ESSAR Oil UK Ltd. Richard is one of the Chemical Industries Associations Young Ambassadors and has recently been awarded with the Northwest City and Guilds Award for Apprentice Champion.
Sarah Hughes from Mexichem discussed how, in 2012, Mexichem Fluor made significant investment of around £20 million into their Runcorn site, with the formation of a new company based on the Rocksavage site, and the redevelopment of their research and development labs. Sarah spoke about the reasons why Mexichem have made this investment in the North West and their future aspirations”.
