Archived item: British-Irish Airports EXPO joins 200+ SMEs; 60 buyers at Heathrow Business Summit
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November 8 2017; Hilton Terminal 5. The British-Irish Airports EXPO joined over 200 SMEs and 60 supply chain partners at the Heathrow Annual Business Summit. In a packed news day for suppliers, Heathrow also unveiled the “longlist” of 65 Logistic Hub locations – the eventual four chosen locations will become the off-site centres for construction, manufacturing, and delivery of the Heathrow Expansion plan. Very significantly the longlist includes several airport sites including Manchester’s Airport City, Belfast International Airport, Glasgow Prestwick Airport, Glasgow Airport Investment Area, Doncaster Sheffield Airport’s Aero Centre, and Leeds Bradford Airport.
Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye spent several hours at the Summit explaining the “Heathrow Five SME Guarantees” as well as the core commitment “to scour every corner of the country to embrace SMEs.” In concluding the seven Summits held in 2017, 10 Business Summits dates and locations were also unveiled for 2018 “to ensure every region benefits from the supply chain opportunities from expansion.”
Over the course of the very full day participants joined in speed-dating sessions with procurement managers representing businesses based at Heathrow and within the airport’s supply chain.
British-Irish Airports EXPO’s James Howson meets with buyers Samantha Daly, Project Controls Specialist, CH2M Transportation Business Group, and Dijana Garwood, Sales Manager.
The “Beautiful Wall” – In order to “Promote your business and engage with others here today” delegates were encouraged to pin their contacts and details of their products and services to a notice board forming a hub within the summit.
British-Irish Airports EXPO’s Ben Whibley with Matthew Sims, Business Developer at The Creative Engine “providing solutions for the digital retail sector.”
Chris Howe, Heathrow’s Buildings Procurement Director, addressed a packed business seminar on “The SME Gateway to Heathrow Procurement Opportunities.”
Kristan Walters, Airports Sector Lead, Department for International Trade, led a business seminar on how to take the first steps towards exporting.
Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye with MACE’s buyers in 1-2-1 meetings with SMEs…
…and visiting the Department for International Trade with Graham Bolton, Chairman, British Aviation Group, and also Global Aviation Development Director for Atkins, another key buyer present at the Summit.
Holland-Kaye with British-Irish Airports EXPO’s Paul Hogan and Stephen Fry, CEO of the Hounslow Chamber of Commerce – “Heathrow’s next-door business neighbour.” The Chamber, which represents 18,000 businesses, used the Summit to discuss how its members could come to next June’s British-Irish Airports EXPO to meet buyers from up to 60 other UK and Irish airports.
