More than 400 senior delegates from across the automotive industry, government and the supply chain will gather this week (21 March) to explore the tangible opportunities emerging for UK suppliers and the business outlook for the year ahead.
Held in Coventry at the Heart of England Conference Centre, the event will focus on how UK-based automotive suppliers can access these new opportunities and how companies further down in the supply chain can leverage recent investment in industry to maximise new growth prospects.
Building on discussions that took place at the last SMMT Open Forum event in September last year, attending delegates will once again benefit from presentations delivered by a range of industry and political representatives providing insight on the outlook for the automotive supply chain.
The first session will explore the work undertaken by the Automotive Council and will be led by Jerry Hardcastle, Automotive Council Technology Group Chair and Dave Allen (Jaguar Land Rover), Automotive Council Supply Chain Group Chair. Rose McNamee from the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills will also take to the stage to outline the Automotive Sector Strategy.
The second half of the event will focus on the new business opportunities available to the automotive supply chain following the surge of investment during the last two years. The speaker session will include presentations from Mick Aiers, Purchasing Manager, General Motors and Andrew Wareing, General Manager – Purchasing, Nissan Europe, who will explore the vehicle manufacturers’ perspective, while Chris Gane, Managing Director, Caparo Materials Engineering will present the supplier viewpoint.
