Leaders of the Future Conference inspires delegates

The BOSS Leaders of the Future Conference returned to Stationers' Hall on Friday 9 March with 100 delegates coming from all parts of the industry. The programme for the day had been devised by the Leaders of the Future Committee and was chaired by two of its members - Aaron Hopkinson of Brother UK and Emily Jones of Fellowes UK.

Alex Staniforth, keynote speaker, opened the conference and told attendees
how he moved his mind over mountains following his inspirational story of surviving the 2015 Nepal earthquake during an attempt to climb Mount Everest.

Yours truly was next on the agenda and delivered a short presentation questioning the advantages and disadvantages of online or face to face selling.

Fiona Mills, Director of Marketing and E-Commerce at Avery, spoke about Avery's move online and the launch of its e-commerce website. She shared the highs and lows of getting an OP business selling on the web in just 100 days.

Jon Tolley, Managing Director at Prime Group, painted a bright future for the OP industry and encouraged the young delegates to embark on their own personal journeys of self-development.

Garry Mellor, Senior Process Improvement Engineer at the BPIF, ran an interactive productivity workshop encouraging delegates to always look to improve processes and work more efficiently.

The day concluded with two 'Ask the Expert' industry panels, based on the importance of looking after your team and the qualities needed to make a good leader.

Delegates left the conference feeling inspired and challenged:

"I feel I was able to enhance my ever-expanding knowledge of the industry, whilst also being inspired by the experiences and knowledge of the speakers. The event also provided an ample opportunity to network with like-minded individuals, and form new relationships with key members of the industry."
Liam Evans, Web Developer, Prima Software Ltd

"An inspiring day meeting like-minded positive people all looking to drive their businesses forward. Some of the actions and comments from the talks and panels I will use to reflect on how I look at tasks and challenges, and engage with the team around me whilst working on a daily basis."
Neil Empson, Production Coordinator, Exaclair Ltd

BOSS would like to thank the sponsors of the Leaders of the Future Conference: Avery, Banner, COLOP, Exaclair, Fellowes, Highlands, Pentel, Prima, United and VOW.

Look out for the full conference review and photographs in the next edition of BOSS Today.