Buy Yorkshire Conference returns to Leeds to build on £48m economic impact

The Buy Yorkshire Conference, the largest business-to-business event in the North, will return to the region for a seventh year at the Royal Armouries Hall in Leeds from 16 – 17 May.

Reporting a conservative economic impact of more than £48m, the Yorkshire Mafia, the organisation that hosts the event, expects more than 5,000 delegates and 185 exhibitors to attend the event.

Along with a line-up of 20 speakers, the Yorkshire Mafia believes this will be the highest attended business exhibition in the region during 2017.

As well as attracting entrepreneurs from across the country to Yorkshire, the event also injects around £8m into the economy each year as businesses meet and build long-term relationships.

Announcing the first four speakers to the line-up, the event will welcome Dr Alan James, Head of VP Worldwide Business Development for Hyperloop One; Gordon Black CBE, Black Family Investment; Ian Massingham, Chief Technology Evangelist for Amazon and Maz Nadjm, Forbes Global Top 50 Social Media Power Influencers.

Dr Alan James will explain how the Hyperloop transportation solution could transform the way that people travel to enhance their economic competitiveness. Former Project Director for HS2, James will visit Leeds to showcase what Hyperloop could achieve.

Gordon Black CBE, former Chairman of Peter Black Holdings and the supplier of Nutribullet to supermarkets throughout the UK, will explain how a small Yorkshire-based business became a £300m organisation with 3,000 employees before selling to Chinese trading giants Li & Fung for £48m.

Maz Nadjm, founder and CEO of SoAmpll, an employee advocacy enterprise platform, is one of the world’s top 50 power influencers (Forbes). He will address delegates to share his experience into social media and how he has used these platforms to shape his business.

Ian Massingham, Chief Technical Evangelist for Amazon, to discuss how he used cloud technology to generate $2.6bn in revenue during the first quarter of 2016. He will share his thoughts on current tech trends and what the cloud revolution could mean to businesses.

Further speakers will be added to the programme over the coming weeks, each covering the business topics relevant to companies within the Yorkshire region.