The finditinsandwell / finditintheblackcountry team is getting excited about Growing Green 2012, as our plans fall into place.

Please be aware that we're changing the date to Wednesday 21 March (instead of Thursday 22) due to huge demand and to accommodate a very special guest speaker - whose name we will reveal soon. The free event will start at 9am and end around 2pm.  

Also, the venue will now be the Bethel Convention Centre on Kelvin Way in West Bromwich and not the De Vere Village Hotel in Dudley.

Growing Green is set to be finditinsandwell's biggest ever event (and we've held some big ones in our four-year history!).

As you may know, our key objective is to help the region’s businesses tap into emerging green technologies and new markets. We want to provide an insight into how West Midlands firms can reduce their carbon footprints, and help their clients to do the same.

The West Midlands, as the manufacturing heart of the country, has suffered badly in economic downturns (both the current one and in the 1970s and 1980s). By helping our supply chain to seize new opportunities, we hope to boost the financial and employment prospects of the region – as well as showing how the UK is embracing the increasingly important green agenda.

We've lined up some brilliant sponsors for the event ...



Growing Green sponsor: Skelton Group

Skelton Group, a property management and investment company, owns the three sites - Wellington, Bean Road and Newey Industrial Estates - which make up the land allocated for the proposed Coseley Eco Park, which is currently going through planning applications.

The area for the UK's first sustainable, self-contained eco park has been described as "a typical Black Country industrial and manufacturing site that traces its origins back to the great advances of the Industrial Revolution". You can read more about Coseley Eco Park at www.coseleyecopark.com and find out lots about the public consultation when you attend Growing Green.



Learning Zone sponsor: University of Wolverhampton

The University of Wolverhampton has kindly offered to sponsor all our professional development and insight seminars during the day, which will focus on green innovations and the need for businesses to become more environmentally sustainable.

Speakers will include:

* Peter Mathews, vice chairman of the Black Country LEP (on global and UK opportunities in green markets)

* Graham Willson, managing director of Skelton Group (talking about the Coseley Eco Park)

 

* Rachel Eade, automotive cluster manager of Manufacturing Advisory Service (on how to do business in the automotive supply chain)

* Steve Smith of the University of Wolverhampton (on the university’s Innovation 1st project to fund research and development into new technologies)

* Tomas Jones from Sandwell Council (on the Black Country Green Deal and plans to build carbon-free homes and retrofit existing ones to be more sustainable)

* Bob Francis of Balfour Beatty Engineering Services (on sustainable modular buildings)

* Roy Casey, president of the Black Country Constructing Excellence Club (on aligning and managing your supply chain to be sustainable)

* Jonathan Davis, CEO of CoRE, (on how the Centre of Refurbishmenrt Excellence - CoRE - provides businesses with the trade skills and knowledge they need to embrace the new technologies and techniques necessary to carry out retro-fit solutions in homes and commercial buildings)

* Richard Morgan of Wardell Armstrong (on how the Energy Initiatives team helps organisations to reduce energy consumption).

You can read the full itinerary here.



Hosted Buyers Lounge sponsor: Bibby Financial Services

To make Growing Green even more valuable to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) we're working with UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) to invite big power buyers, overseas ambassadors and specifiers to meet with you and talk business in a quiet lounge area.

Confirmed so far are the head of procurement from Interserve Construction, a procurement manager from Galliford Try, the acting head of procurement from Centro, a supply chain manager from Balfour Beatty Construction, a senior buyer from Morgan Sindall Plc, plus others. Read more here.
 
It can be difficult to get a foot in the door with buyers of this calibre, so we’re giving you the chance to book one-to-one interviews with them. Here's how.

Thank you to Bibby Financial Services for sponsoring our Hosted Buyers Lounge.



Marketplace sponsor: you? Find out more here!

This is the third year we've held Growing Green, and it's getting bigger and bigger. In 2012 we’re expecting around 70 exhibitors and over 1000 delegates to visit the marketplace.

In 2010, Growing Green featured on Midlands today and last year we got lots of coverage from BBC Radio WM.
 
The exhibition area will be divided up into four zones: Renewable Energy and Waste Management; Building and Construction; Manufacturing; Automotive Transport and Logistics. There will be lots of opportunities for networking and sharing ideas.

If you'd like to sponsor our Marketplace, this could be a great way to raise the profile of your organisation and show your commitment to the green agenda. We are offering various sponsorship packages, giving you a significant amount of positive publicity leading up to the day, at the event and also in its aftermath. Find out more here or email stephen_massey@sandwell.gov.uk to join our existing sponsors.



Black-tie dinner sponsor: Weatherite Group

We're determined that Growing Green 2012 won't just be a one-off celebration of the region's green industries, but the start of bigger things to come. To get the movers and shakers (including Black Country LEP chiefs, overseas and UK buyers, council chiefs, regeneration partners and high-profile businesspeople) putting their heads together in order to foster international trade, business growth and improved support for the Black Country and City Region, we'll be hosting over 100 people at an evening event where they can network in a prestigious yet relaxed setting.

The evening will be subsidised by our kind sponsors Weatherite Group so the cost to attend (including a three-course dinner) will be just £15 plus VAT per head. This will secure you a place on a table with one of our overseas or UK buyers, so it's well worth signing up.

Alternatively you can book a corporate table for ten people at just £10 plus VAT per head - email stephen_massey@sandwell.gov.uk for advance bookings.

Keep an eye on our news page for more updates on Growing Green 2012. And don't forget to sign up!