Promoting Manchester as a Global Destination

Manchester’s position as a central hub for global business and an international gateway to the UK will be championed at a major event attended by international business leaders at Manchester Airport. The all-day event at Manchester Airport’s Concorde Conference Centre on Wednesday, 17th June is being staged jointly by Manchester Airport, Marketing Manchester and MIDAS, Manchester’s inward investment agency, supported by funding from the North West Regional Development Agency (NWDA) through its Air Services Development Fund (ASDF). The event will be attended by international business leaders, as well as Manchester and North West civic and corporate executives, and is designed to position Manchester and the wider region as the best location for business, to showcase the existing and future international air routes and to celebrate the unveiling of the £80m investment in Manchester Airport. Three panel-led discussions chaired by Brian Groom, UK business and economic editor of The Financial Times, will highlight and promote opportunities for trade and investment in the city and region over the next decade. The breakfast session will focus on global long haul opportunities and panellists include a senior representative from Emirates airline, Geoff Muirhead, chief executive of Manchester Airport Group, and Barbara Spicer, chief executive of Salford City Council. The lunchtime panel is focused on the USA and features Andrew Cornish, managing director of Manchester Airport, Sir Howard Bernstein, chief executive of Manchester City Council, Andrew Stokes, chief executive of Marketing Manchester, and Colin Sinclair, chief executive of MIDAS. A senior executive from American Airlines is also due to join the lunchtime panel. The afternoon session will debate the Indian market and includes a senior representative of Indian international airline Jet Airways, Andrew Harrison, commercial director at Manchester Airport and Tim Newns, director of business development at MIDAS. The day of events concludes with a gala dinner beneath the wings of Concorde, to be attended by business leaders and VIPs from the Manchester city region, elsewhere in the UK and overseas, and senior executives of airlines and key partner organisations. Sir Richard Leese, leader of Manchester City Council, Geoff Muirhead and Nick Brooks-Sykes, Acting Director of Tourism at the NWDA will host the dinner.