Shaping Portsmouth are delighted to announce that Sir Ben Ainslie will be our Keynote Speaker at the Shaping Portsmouth Conference in January.
Sir Ben is CEO of Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team. He is also the most successful Olympic sailor in history, with four golds and one silver medal, gained in a 16-year span from 1996 to 2012.
Dave Humphries, CEO of Shaping Portsmouth, said “It’s great to have SailGP returning to Portsmouth in July 2025 and to have Sir Ben Ainslie, as CEO for the British Team, joining us at conference. Most people will know of Sir Ben as the most successful sailing Olympian ever, but he is also hugely passionate about driving positive impact for society and the planet. As a team, Emirates GBR work with business networks to find sustainable solutions and to support a shared mission to inspire 3 million young people globally in STEM and Climate education. We are really looking forward to talking to him about this and how we can support as a city.”
Sir Ben Ainslie will be joined on stage by Roy Bedlow, Founder and CEO of Low Carbon, to discuss Low Carbon’s partnership with The Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team which will support three million young people to take climate action in addition to supporting the team to become the most sustainable elite sporting squad in the world.
The Shaping Portsmouth Conference will be taking place on Friday 17th January 2025.
After a welcome from Andy Grays, CEO of our host and main sponsor the Portsmouth Guildhall, and Shaping Portsmouth Co-Chairs Simon Barrable and Mark Waldron, our day starts with a focus on our Business Pillar, with CEO Dave Humphries and Director Jane Lamer introducing the Portsmouth Business Support Service team and Luca Frederick from LocalLinked to discuss his experiences with the service. They will be followed by Anne Murphy from the University of Portsmouth, to talk about their Business Consultancy Project, joined by the amazing group of students assisting Shaping Portsmouth this year. Cllr Steve Pitt, Leader of Portsmouth City Council, returns for his always-popular council update, this time with a focus on the City Vision project and Portsmouth’s upcoming Centenary celebrations.
The second stage of the day turns to our Education Pillar, as Director Hayden Taylor joins Dave to present an update on our Apprenticeship Bus, Explore Your Future, and Shaped By Solent programmes. Shaped By Solent will then take centre stage as Dom Jones from The Mary Rose Museum explains their partnership with the programme this year and we present the amazing products designed by the SEND students of Solent Academies Trust that will be available for purchase during the networking break. Following the networking, we will be announcing the winning product, as voted for by delegates, which will be sold in the Mary Rose Museum shop for the rest of the year.
For the final section of the event, Dave and Director Chris Hillman will lead a look at our Community Pillar, including details of our revamped Portsmouth Ambassador programme. We will then be joined by Clare Martin MBE from Pompey in the Community to kick off an exciting new project, and CP Robinson from Portsmouth Pride for the unofficial launch of UK Pride 2025 ahead of the official launch that evening.
Throughout the day we will be presenting our Shaping Portsmouth Awards to celebrate the amazing work being done in the city, and there will be opportunities for networking and visiting the exhibition stands.
Steff Jones, Operations Manager at Shaping Portsmouth, said “We’re looking forward to welcoming you all to the Shaping Portsmouth Conference 2025. We have an excellent line-up of presenters, speakers, and exhibits. I’m particularly looking forward to the unofficial launch of UK Pride 2025, with their official event happening on the evening of the 17th, and Sir Ben Ainslie joining us to talk about his return to Portsmouth. Another highlight for me is the progression of our Shaped By Solent project with the city’s SEND Schools; previous conference attendees will notice an exciting new element to this.”
We have a few exhibition spaces available for booking, as well as an opportunity to sponsor the Shaped By Solent Shop. Contact Steff at steff.jones@shapingportsmouth.co.uk for details.
Find out more and book your tickets at shapingportsmouth.co.uk/conference, and keep an eye on our channels for further announcements!
