ACBN

Dr Yvonne Thompson CBE, Chair of ACBN and MD ASAP Communications Ms Thompson has long campaigned on issues of Small Business Ethnic Minorities and women's issues.ACBN looks forward to welcoming all of you who have taken time out of your business today to attend and learn from this amazing line up...it is time well spent. More info

Rosalind Patricia-Anne Howells, Baroness Howells of St Davids, OBE Labour House of Lords. She was made a Life peer as Baroness Howells of St Davids, of Charlton in the London Borough of Greenwich in 1999. Conference Patron, Barones Howells has supported the ACBN since its inception in 2001, and advocates in the House of Lords for small and minority business owners.

Em Ekong - Board of The African Caribbean Chamber of Commerce & Enterprise(ACCCE) will give a short presentation as part of the main plenary I will do the presentation on "Seeing Africa Differently" - How diaspora businesses can take advantage of emerging economies, which will incorporate ACCCE services, our partnership with UKTI, British Business Club, London Business Network and the event in 2012 at Grosvenor House Hotel. In the afternoon break-out I and my colleague Toyin Dania will do a presentation on The African and Caribbean Chamber of Commerce - "Support for Diaspora businesses in the UK". More Info

Jon Lane, Business Development and Partnership Director, BT London 2012 Jon’s current role is as the Business Development lead for the BT Group ensuring BT maximises the commercial opportunity presented by BT’s involvement as the “Communications Services partner”, as a “Sustainability partner” and as a “Live Site presenting partner” for the games.  Jon has been doing this role for 3½ years, prior to this, in his 18 year career with BT, Jon has managed BT’s Indirect Channels business, BT’s Corporate Mid-Market customer base and also held a number of senior marketing and strategy roles

Uday K Dholakia CBE Chairman NABA: The National Asian Business Association pro-actively enables the British Asian networks gain access to economic opportunities and advancement. Through joint efforts, nationally NABA will work toward bringing together the British Asian Business  and other Networks on issues which mutually affect their business interests.

Liz Cross is responsible for Governance and Sustainability in procurement across BT, working with buyers and CSR specialists. She leads on procurement strategy on climate change, environment, labour standards, and supplier diversity.  A big focus is the drive to engage suppliers on climate action and ensure it is considered in buying decisions.

Liz represents BT on the Minority Supplier Development UK Board.

Andrea Opoku: Marketing & Corporate Communications Director – AAOE (UK).  No Olympics Contract? How Your Businesses Can Still Exploit the Marketing Opportunity and Keep Within the Law. You may have missed the boat in tendering for a London 2012 contract but there are still ways you can benefit from this huge opportunity. This workshop will outline ways SMEs can do just that, and what can and can’t be done in regards to Guerrilla Marketing and the use of the London2012 branding

Gay Harrington Social & Economic Development Manager, Canary Wharf Group plc/Director, East London Business Place.  As Canary Wharf Group’s (CWG) Social & Economic Development Manager Gay works to maximise business opportunities for local companies, helping them to compete for business with buyers, developers and contractors in the area. Gay also works with the local community on a wide range of regeneration and community activities and oversees CWG’s local employment, Training and Education initiatives.She represents CWG as Director of a flagship public/private procurement model, the East London Business Place.

Local Entrepreneur Salome Anhenkora has started Chigwell Tours which will be open for business in spring 2012. In spite of her visual impairment, Salome is passionate about business, people and development. She is interested in public policy and change. She was a former presenter at Voice of Africa Radio and the author of ‘Smiling at the Glass Ceiling’. She is family orientated and lives in Chigwell with her husband and son.

Maxine Ratnarajah: Founder of Bastian Retail: A Journey Of Hope. Born in London and raised in Zambia, Australia and Sri-Lanka, Maxine started her Entrepreneurial journey six years ago.  A natural born retailer, she has faced many of the joys and struggles that each Entrepreneur experiences during a start-up.  Join her in a thought provoking story of where she was to where she is now and where she may be headed…Brazil?