BoB Seminars

The Seminar Programme for 2013 was as below – information on the 2014 line-up to be announced.

TEN SUPERB SPEAKERS ON THE 3RD FLOOR

JON WELLS/MORGAN MOTOR CARS
JOHN SMITHEY/ARTEFACT CARDS
MAGGIE NORDEN/LONDON COLLEGE OF FASHION
MARK SHAYLER/DO BOOKS
KATE HILLS/MAKE IT BRITISH
MARC KOSKA/LIFESAVER
STEPHEN HAYWARD/CENTRAL ST MARTINS
ANDY MARKS/SLEEPINGBAGS
PAUL WHITTEY/PENROSE PRODUCTS
MC/SEAN PILLOT DE CHENECEY

Following last years successful BoB Talks, this element of the event returns with a suitably dazzling array of speakers! With talks ranging from ‘Best Practice for British Brands’ to social & cultural trend talks, innovation speeches and cutting-edge films, there is (as they say) something for everyone. Speakers include some of the key brands exhibiting at Best of Britannia, along with talks from the London College of Fashion, Central St Martins and the publisher on everyone’s lips…Do Books. The series of talks will be chaired once again by brand consultant Sean Pillot de Chenecey.

Best of Britannia’s MC for our series of talks and discussions will be brand expert Sean Pillot de Chenecey.

A specialist in cultural/social and brand/marcoms trends, Sean is a strategic research consultant for a range of international brands; who also gives trend speeches in America, Europe and Asia. Taking a positive approach to the myriad issues facing brands; in 2013 he’s recently been working on consumer insights, brand positioning and concept development projects in the Middle East, US, Russia and Europe. Over the last decade he’s also conducted numerous research projects into ‘Britishness’ and will be chairing a series of talks during Best of Britannia featuring speakers from some of the excellent brands exhibiting at the event!

Sean Pillot de Chenecey

Thursday 3rd October

10.30 - MORGAN MOTOR COMPANY
– KEEPING UP APPEARANCES (Modern Design vs. Traditional manufacture)’

Jon Wells - Originally from the Cotswolds, England, Jon Wells is now the Head of Design at the Morgan Motor Company. He was initially tasked with integrating digital and physical 3D surfacing technique into the previous design / build work flow. Since he began working with Morgan in 2007, Jon has had a crucial role in the design of the Aero SuperSports, Aero Coupe, Morgan 3 Wheeler, and the new Plus 8. He has helped facelift the Classic Morgan car range and worked on the development Morgan LifeCar and EvaGt concept vehicles.

14.30 - JOHN SMITHEY - ARTEFACT CARDS

Ideas that play hard, work hard

Artefact Cards have become a go-to tool for those who play with the ideas they take seriously. Whether you’re working up your own ideas, doing it as a group, or remixing existing ideas into something new, the harder your ideas play, the harder they’ll work. But what’s interesting about a hybrid between a sticky note and a playing card? And why oh why would you make it in Britain rather than China…?

John V Willshire runs Smithery, a Product & Marketing Innovation Studio, whose working philosophy is Making Things People Want beats Making People Want Things. He works with companies like Carlsberg, The Huffington Post, Google and the Oxford Said Business School. The V stands for Victor, but that’s another story.

15.00 - MARK SHAYLER - DO BOOKS

“If we haven’t got stuff we can’t make things: How and why we need to reinvent British manufacturing for good.”

Mark Shayler has worked with some of the world’s largest and smallest companies to implement innovation and environmental design. He has saved his clients over £1000 million. Buts he’s fed up with helping companies do average or bad things a bit better. It’s important to do amazing things now. This starts with manufacturing in the UK. Mark is developing business models and products that form part of the “circular economy”. This is important from an environmental, economic and employment. It could save us from geopolitics, the rise of the east, the collapse of civilisation and triffids.

Mark has 25 years experience working with clients including Samsung, Coca Cola, Asda, Belkin, Innocent and B&Q. He is a Founding Partner of the Do Lectures, a Design Council Design Associate, part of the Good for Nothing collective, and author of “Do Disrupt: Change the Status Quo or Become it” . He keeps chickens, ducks and children. But not against their will.

15.30 - KATE HILLS - MAKE IT BRITISH

The importance of a Made in Britain marque - why every brand that makes their products in the UK should use the new Made in Britain logo

Kate Hills founded Make it British in April 2011 as a way of supporting British brands that made their products in the UK. Her website originally started as a blog but has now grown to include a British brands directory as well as features on British craftsmanship and a resource for companies wanting to find manufacturers to make their products.
Kate has a broad range of experience in design and manufacturing, having worked for several large including Burberry and M&S, as well as having had her own fashion label which was all made in the UK. Increasingly frustrated with the dependence of British brands and retailers on Far Eastern suppliers, and predicting that a UK manufacturing base would one day be essential if companies were to remain competitive, she set up Make it British as a way of giving something back to the industry.
The introduction of a Made in Britain logo is something Kate feels very strongly about, and she will discussing why such a marque is important, as well as talking about her work with the Made in Great Britain Campaign, which will be revealing the new Made in Britain logo exclusively at BoB.

Friday 4th October

10.15 - 10.30 JASON HOLT - HOLTS ACADEMY

“The renaissance of apprenticeships in Britain – the potential for Britain to be Great again”

Jason Holt – through Holts Academy set up the first jewellery apprenticeships in a generation and is now working as an apprenticeship ambassador with the government to encourage young people and businesses to consider apprenticeships in all sectors and communities.

This will be an informal session with an opportunity to ask any questions whether you are somebody person considering the apprenticeship route or a business considering hiring an apprentice.

10.35 - 11.15 The Screening of Lappings, Lemel & Sweeps
- THE HATTON GARDEN PROJECT

A screening of the film Lappings, Lemel & Sweeps…Stories from Hatton Garden

A group of jewellery students from across London have made a film with Arts charity, digital:works, focusing on the fascinating, hidden history of Hatton Garden in Central London. This area has been the centre of London’s jewellery trade since the 18th century.

The participants have learnt about this history through a short series of talks and walks through the area before going on to meet the many crafts men and women working in the maze of workshops and shops in the area. Many of these people and businesses date back several generations and their stories are the stories of the jewellery business in London, its trade, skilled workers, immigration, and how those cultures and skills have mixed to create a unique area. Behind the often plush shop fronts are a warren of ancient workshops and passageways to be explored in which skilled workers use techniques handed down through families and apprenticeships.

“An expertly put together story, a fascinating insight into a hidden world snuggled within London. Thoroughy enjoyable and great to look at – like finding a gem in the rough mess of a craftsmans bench.” Steve Mepsted

11.30 - LONDON COLLEGE OF FASHION
- PAST AND PRESENT

What is it about the British quirk that captures our imagination? Who are the contemporaries helping us gain new glory?

Maggie Norden is a Director of Creative Media at the London College of Fashion and a broadcaster who has worked with the best of British, from Capital Radio, to Channel 4 and London’s University of the Arts.

Maggie will share some her reflections on British heritage and talk to the new sense of partnership and collaboration necessary today as we fashion forward with a determined drive .

14.30 - PENROSE PRODUCTS

“Sustainability our approach to developing our Business/Products in a niche market using the People, Process and Technology as the approach”

Paul Whittey Director/Owner of Penroseproducts.com Paul is the founder of Penrose Products a Senior Manufacturing Professional who believes that the best way in driving sustainability in business is through People, Process and then Technology and in that order. Working in Food Manufacturing for the past 15 years developing what he calls is his most important transferable skill in business to drive performance and that is “People Skills” along with a detailed understanding of how to get the best out of batch manufacturing and the supply chain.

“We are now using all these skills to take our niche hand made bedding products to a level that we can retail whilst the rest of the market is highly automated in making bedding we have a culture of developing people along with a unique process to consistently deliver high end bedding at an affordable cost which makes buying British the best option.”

15.00 - ANDY MARKS - Founder & CEO, SleepingBags Social Enterprise

“Changing the world of luxury”

Over a sunset cocktail on a beach in Thailand, a hotelier friend told me how often luxury hotel bed linen is condemned. There was an instant eureka moment, followed by “oh shit I have no excuse not to follow my dream”.
My next move was to work out much linen is retired annually by leading hotels – enough to go round the world more than twice as it happens.
That was five years ago and there was no turning back in my quest to create premium products from this ‘pinnacle of luxury’ fabric. The SleepingBags range now includes sleepwear, bags and soft furnishings and every product tells a story

Saturday 5th October

11.00 - MARC KOSKA - LIFESAVER

Alarm bells first rang back in 1984 for Marc when he read a newspaper article predicting the spread of HIV through re-using medical syringes. Appalled at the prospect of such an avoidable catastrophe, Marc decided to do something about it. Some 26 years later his solution the K1, an Auto Disable (AD) syringe, not only physically prevents re-use, but can be manufactured inexpensively, by using existing machinery and is now under license to 14 manufacturers. Conservative estimates credit Marc with nine million lives saved and 14 million diseases prevented.

In 2006 he identified a glaring gap in the market and established The SafePoint Trust, a UK based not-for-profit, that produces hard-hitting, public information films. Marc now spends all his time working with SafePoint on their LifeSaver campaigns lobbying for government legislation and policy change, spreading public awareness and ensuring adequate healthcare worker training is in force to complete the changeover to a safe healthcare system.
www.marckoska.com
www.safepointtrust.org

11.30 - CENTRAL ST MARTINS
- SHOULD WE STILL CARE ABOUT BRITISHNESS IN DESIGN?

Stephen Hayward is an anthropologist and design educator based in the Ceramic, Industrial and Product Design programme at Central St. Martins, University of the Arts, London. He has an MA from the Courtauld Institute and a PhD from the Royal College of Art and writes mainly for academic journals. His latest venture is Philosophical Toys, a collaborative agency for the promotion of critical thinking and making in design.