The Anchor High Leadership Summit equips manufacturing leaders with the tools and mindset to ‘anchor high’. Attendees will hear from pioneering leaders with experience of industry and beyond, and will be inspired, challenged, and motivated through a series of curated speakers and industry panels to lead ambitious change for their business and the wider sector.
The Summit is for senior and aspiring manufacturing leaders who have a passion for innovation and best practice. Themes for 2025 include leading change, sustainable growth, and how new inheritance tax rules may affect NI manufacturers.
Join us for a day of inspiration, networking, and development on Thursday, 29th May 2025 at the Hilton Hotel, Belfast.
The Summit will be followed in the evening by the prestigious Manufacturing NI Hall of Fame Awards, celebrating titans of the local manufacturing sector who have significantly and sustainably shaped NI’s industrial landscape.
Tickets for the Anchor High Leadership Summit and Hall of Fame Awards Dinner can be purchased below via Eventbrite.
Alternatively, to be invoiced for tickets, please email connor@manufacturingni.org.
Key themes for this year’s Summit include:
Lessons in Leadership: From Politics to the Boardroom
In Conversation with Simon Coveney. Former Irish Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (2022-2024), former Deputy Leader of Fine Gael (2017-2024), former Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade (2017–2022), former Tánaiste (2017-2020), and former Member of the European Parliament (2004-2007).
Navigating Economic Realities
Economic Outlook: UK, Ireland & Global Trends
Lee Collinson (MD & Head of Manufacturing, Transport & Logistics at Barclays Corporate Banking)
Policy, Labour Market & Economic Investment: A local perspective
Dr Karen Bonner (Principal Economist at Ulster University Economic Policy Centre)
‘Good Jobs’: What are they and how do we make more of them?
Dr Lisa Wilson (Senior Economist at NERI)
Factory of the Future: Where do we go from here?
Human Centred Manufacturing & Industry 5.0
Conor Quinn (Business Development Manager at AMIC)
AI Adoption in Manufacturing
Alan Lavery (Director Connected Data and AI – GenAI Lead at KPMG)
Talent Wars: New Approaches for Employee Attraction & Retention
From Managing Resource to Cultivating Culture: The new competitive advantage
Darren McVicker (MD at Vickerstock)
Culture-First Leadership: Creating workplaces people believe in
Mark Hutchinson (CEO at Hutchinson Engineering)
Exploring New Horizons with Sustainable Opportunities
Supply Chain Chaos: Winning in a green economy
Ben Craig (Head of Partnerships at CarbonFit)
Industry Panels
Lead, Green, and Resilient: Sustainability as a Strategic Asset
New Approaches for Employee Attraction & Retention
Scaling New Heights: Business Support from Go Succeed
From Legacy Systems to Smart Factories
Reshaping Business Succession with Employee Ownership