Speakers

Speaker details:

Meet our speakers who will be presenting at our Made in Dudley, Sold to the World Roadshow.

Speaker		Biography

		Councillor Patrick Harley Leader, Dudley Council Cllr Harley has been Leader of Dudley Council since 2019, after previously serving in the role from 2017 to 2018. He is also the current culture and digital lead on the West Midlands Combined Authority and has represented the ward of Kingswinford South for more than two decades. Outside of politics, he is a company director in the hospitality industry.

		Paul Mountford Head of Economic Growth & Skills, Dudley Council Paul has an extensive history working in Economic Regeneration. In the past 7 years as a Head of Service at Dudley Council, Paul has witnessed the journey of Dudley Borough businesses making their mark internationally, selling goods and services around the world. As a leader of teams working to enable economic growth in Dudley, Paul is keen to see more businesses from across the borough engage with business support services. He looks forward to joining you at Made in Dudley, Sold to the World

		Rob Lawley Adviser Team Manager, Staffordshire & The Black Country, Department for Business and Trade Rob is responsible for a team of ten International Trade Advisers covering Staffordshire and The Black Country and has a responsibility for the Skills & Services Sectors. The team works to support companies realise their international potential via a range of DBT Services. Prior to re-joining the Civil Service in 2022 Rob was the Director of Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce Department for International Trade. Here the team delivered the full range of DBT Services/ programmes, was an issuing body for export documentation and a customs broker. The team processed export documentation for companies with a combined invoice value in excess of £250m per annuum. Previously Rob was a Civil Servant where he began his career in 1995 working for the Employment Service and later the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. In 2005 Rob started to work for UKTI the predecessor of DBT and in 2012 he was promoted to Head of the International Trade Team where he led many Trade Missions all over the world.

		Catherine Bray MBA Programme Delivery Manager, Oxford Innovation Advice Catherine has worked in the delivery of business support across the West Midlands for over 20 years, in both advisory and programme management roles. Having completed a secondment at West Midlands Combined Authority, supporting the mobilisation and delivery of regional business support programmes funded via the new UK Shared Prosperity Fund, Catherine is now Programme Delivery Manager for Business Growth West Midlands in Dudley. Catherine supports a team of local Business Growth Advisers, who through individual, tailored support provide a wealth of information, advice and guidance enabling Dudley borough businesses to thrive and grow.

		Steve Dunn Business Support Adviser, Business Growth West Midlands in Dudley Steve is an adviser for Dudley borough’s arm of Business Growth West Midlands, the region’s business support service. He helps SMEs to access relevant support programmes and grants, working primarily with businesses based in the east of the borough, including Cradley, Halesowen, Lye, Netherton and Quarry Bank. He has a wealth of experience in a number of sectors, including financial services, recruitment consultancy, and most recently technology, in which he has worked with several high-growth software companies to implement successful sales strategies.

		Paul-Henri Sampson Business Support Adviser, Business Growth West Midlands in Dudley Paul is an adviser for Dudley borough’s arm of Business Growth West Midlands, the region’s business support service. He helps SMEs to access relevant support programmes and grants, working primarily with businesses based in the west of the borough, including Brierley Hill, Kingswinford, Stourbridge and Wordsley. Paul also has a background in export and was part of an EU team supporting enterprise development in Poland and the Czech Republic. In the UK, he previously managed the Shell National Export Challenge for SMEs and was the director of the Welsh LiveWIRE youth enterprise programme.

		Raj Theper Export Academy Adviser, UK Export Academy, Department for Business and Trade Raj has over 20 years of experience in delivering advice, guidance and coaching support to businesses across the UK working with hundreds of businesses across many different sectors to successfully develop and execute their growth strategies. Raj delivers a number of webinars as part of the Export Academy to support businesses in further developing their export capabilities.

		Andrew Eardley, Sales Director & Jean Eardley, Director MSP Easy Tools Limited Andrew and Jean Eardley, a husband-and-wife team, alongside Jean's brother Glenn, founded MSP Easy Tools. While Andrew and Jean drove sales, Glenn diligently crafted the innovative solutions. They leveraged their experience in IT support to create MSP Easy Tools, a game-changer in the Managed Service Provider (MSP) industry. Their software solutions for M365 simplify tasks, enhance security, and boost profitability for MSPs worldwide. Originally developed to address their own MSP's needs, these tools gained popularity among peers, prompting MSP Easy Tools to become a separate venture. What began as a local initiative quickly evolved into a global enterprise, with exports spanning the USA, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, and Europe. Their accidental foray into international markets, fuelled by affiliate partnerships, now constitutes over 60% of their business, marking a significant leap in profitability and growth.

		Jayne Shields International Trade Adviser, Staffordshire & The Black Country, Department for Business and Trade Jayne has been supporting Black Country businesses of all sizes and business sectors to grow and develop for the last 10 years. Before becoming a business adviser, she was a marketing professional for 20 years, working in both large Fortune 500 multi-nationals and SMEs, being responsible for strategic marketing, marketing communications, category management, resource management and planning; and working with international teams in Europe, Middle East and USA. Her industry experience covers manufacturing, materials handling, security and safety, construction products and DIY brands.

		Mark Herron, Managing Editor OrthOracle Mark Herron is an Orthopaedic Surgeon with over 30 years’ experience of clinical practice and also the Managing Editor of OrthOracle, online surgical education platform. The OrthOracle platform evolved to fill an unmet need for detailed instructional materials around the operative episode for both residents and practicing experienced surgeons. Since its launch in 2017, it has been adopted for training and career-long learning in over 150 countries, via hospital, training programmes, as well as many individual surgeons. New instructional content is published on a monthly basis, produced by experienced surgeons from around the world who are part of our carefully chosen Editorial Team.

		Anne Lockett Export Finance Manager, UK Export Finance Anne’s extensive banking career began in branch at Nat West before she moved to the bank’s international division, where she spent more than a decade in corporate finance as a credit analyst marketing to European financial companies and banks as well as the more challenging markets in Africa and the Middle East. Anne spent the next decade with ABN AMRO Bank in Birmingham marketing to the top 250 FTSE companies. Today, as an Export Finance Manager for UKEF, Anne helps companies of all sizes access financial support for their exports. She is regionally based supporting businesses in The Black Country, Shropshire and Staffordshire.

		Chris Emes Chairman, Mechatherm International Ltd Chris’ education culminated in a BSc Hons Mechanical Engineering and later Chartered Engineer status. He joined Mechatherm (founded by his father) in 1980 and took over as MD in 1990. Chris was responsible for sales and engineering until 2015 when he took semi-retirement. The company’s product range is heat treatment and melting furnaces for the aluminium industry, strongly directed towards recycling in the last 15 years. Following the covid years Chris re-entered full time employment, to assist Mechatherm re-establish, this year taking over as Chairman. He has travelled to every continent, successfully obtaining contracts, except the north and south poles where there is no aluminium industry to service.

		Gary Blackburn International Trade Adviser (Export Market Research), Department for Business and Trade Gary is an Export Market Research Adviser with over 20 years’ experience in the market research industry. He has a PhD in International Politics and has worked in the private sector, business support, government and academia.

		Gerti Willis International Trade Adviser (Culture and Communications), Department for Business and Trade Gerti is a licensed trainer in one of the most effective methods for cross-cultural training: The Lewis Model of Culture/ Culture Active. She delivers International Cultural Communication training to companies of all sectors and sizes. Her years of experience negotiating contracts with language trainers from many countries and cultural backgrounds have given her in-depth knowledge of cultural diversity.

		Andy Smith International Engagement Manager in the Overseas Network Engagement team for DBT Midlands Andy leads on the Americas and Caribbean, Europe, Asia-Pacific and China and this year is developing campaigns with US, APAC and Hong Kong colleagues. He leverages DBT’s overseas network to benefit Midlands exporters by attracting DBT and external experts and buyers to the region and arranging programmes and events enabling them to meet Midlands firms. He also runs webinars and some outward missions. He has worked for DBT and its predecessors for 10 years. Prior to that he spent a short time in higher education and self-employed consultancy. His earlier career included 25 years in international and European work for UK local and regional authorities and stints in elder care in Germany, journalism in Jordan, tourism across western Europe.

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Organised by:

The Department for International Trade

Department for Business and Trade (DBT) is the Government Department that helps UK based companies succeed in the global economy. We also help overseas companies bring their high-quality investment to the UK’s dynamic economy, acknowledged as Europe’s best place in which to succeed in global business.