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Day One Day Two Previous Next Thursday 16 October 2025 Main Stage, New Dock Hall 11:25–11:35 Finding Home in Halifax: Stella's Story Delivered by

< All sponsors MHR Stand 7 mhrglobal.com MHR is a specialist provider of HR, payroll and finance software. Through its People and Finance platform, MHR enables sustainable high performance – for organisations and for the people working within them – by making work flow. MHR powers better real-time decision-making across the core business functions of finance, HR, payroll and learning, helping organisations to be more effective and efficient. Proudly independent and family-owned since its founding in 1984, MHR’s 850 employees, based in Nottingham, serve over 1,400 customers across the UK and Ireland.

Jon McGintyDeputy at Solace, Managing Director, Gloucester City Council & Digital Leadership < Speakers < Previous Next > Jon McGinty Deputy at Solace, Managing Director, Gloucester City Council & Digital Leadership Gloucester City Council I am currently Managing Director at Gloucester City Council and have been in this role since 2015. Before this year, I was jointly employed in this role and as an Executive Director at Gloucestershire County Council, an interesting role designed to improve collaborative working between two tiers of local government. I am also a trustee of Active Gloucestershire (the County Sports and Active Partnership). Prior to this, I was deputy chief executive at Aylesbury Vale District Council, responsible for all… Show More

Sara ToddChief Executive < Speakers < Previous Next > Sara Todd Chief Executive Trafford Council Sara is the Chief Executive of Trafford Council, a role she took up in 2019. She is a Mancunian and a planner by trade having studied at the University of Manchester. She is also the NHS Greater Manchester (GM) Place Lead for Trafford as part of GM’s Integrated Care System arrangements, as well as being Lead Chief Executive for the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) portfolio for Education, Work and Skills. Sara has over 30 years of local government… Show More

All Speakers Andrew Ferrier Chief Executive, Test Valley Borough Council Thursday 16 October 2025 15:45-16:25 Test, Learn and Grow: How Do We Build a Movement? Hotot Suite, Royal Armouries Go to session

Ste SharplesAssistant Director - People Management, ICT and Digital < Speakers < Previous Next > Ste Sharples Assistant Director - People Management, ICT and Digital St Helens Borough Council Ste has worked at the Council for almost 40 years, and spent many years in the Councils Development section designing and implementing a wide range of in-house systems, as well as supporting most of the package systems that the Council operates. A developer by background, Ste moved on from Development to become Head of IT, and then to his current role of Assistant Director for ICT & Digital, where he has recently delivered the Councils new ICT, Digital, and Data… Show More

Emma MarinosLeadership Coach < Speakers < Previous Next > Emma Marinos Leadership Coach Solace Associate Emma has provided strategic leadership for a range of corporate services across five London Boroughs, for 30 years (half of that at director level). Emma is also an experienced leadership coach and facilitator working with a diverse range of individuals and teams. She is a qualified and accredited Professional Certified Coach (ICF), running her own coaching and facilitation business since 2021 and is an associate with Solace.

Work With Solace Partner with us Partner with us at the Solace Summit to connect with the senior leaders shaping local government, join focused discussions on the issues that matter, and build meaningful relationships with decision-makers across the UK. Get In Touch Download the Working With Solace Brochure

Stand TBC < Back GCA www.crowncommercial.gov.uk CCS connects public and private sectors to achieve the best commercial and procurement outcomes for the UK and its citizens. We are the UK’s central commercial and procurement organisation. Our customers are government departments, public and third sector organisations. We place our customers at the heart of everything we do. Combining our expertise with data helps us understand their unique challenges. By creating a simpler, better procurement experience, we empower them to redirect valuable resources towards essential public services. We use our deep commercial expertise to guide over 20,000 customers to best value – from locum doctors and laptops, to emergency service vehicles and electricity. Our extensive industry knowledge ensures we maintain resilient, diverse supply chains that strengthen our economy and society. For suppliers, CCS is a gateway to the UK public sector. Businesses of all sizes are vital to our economy. By harnessing supplier expertise, we create innovative solutions that benefit communities across the nation and support government missions and policy objectives. Our ambition is to be a world class, national commercial and procurement organisation and the preferred choice for customers and suppliers. We are motivated by the opportunity to make a positive difference and set the standard for quality and integrity in public procurement. Using our scale and unique position, we create meaningful impact across the UK. We call this value for the nation .

Alex GovierPartnerships Manager < Speakers < Previous Next > Alex Govier Partnerships Manager Public Practice Alex is the Partnerships Manager at Public Practice. He works closely with Local Authorities and the wider Public Sector to understand their challenges regarding resourcing, capacity building, funding, and delivery. Alex started his career at the House of Commons, working in an MP’s office to support the community they represented. In Parliament, he developed a passion for the inclusive design of places and an understanding of how Local Government can address inequalities and social mobility through placemaking. Since then, Alex… Show More

All Speakers John Clarke Head of Client Solution – Healthcare, Netcall John Clarke is Head of Client Solution – Healthcare at Netcall, leading strategy and partnerships across the NHS and wider health sector. A former Chief Information Officer with over two decades’ board-level experience, he is recognised for driving innovation in patient engagement, data-led decision making, and technology-enabled service redesign. Passionate about aligning local power with national ambition, John works with leaders across health and care to help deliver the 10-Year Health Strategy through more efficient, collaborative, and patient-focused services. Thursday 16 October 2025 14:15–14:55 Local Power, National Plan: Delivering the 10-Year Health Strategy Bury Theatre, Royal Armouries Go to session

Stand TBC < Back Workday www.workday.com In an era of unprecedented pressure, local government Chief Executives face a critical dual mandate: delivering efficient public services while driving transformational change. This requires a profound understanding of your organisation's greatest assets—your people and your finances. Yet, these two pillars often operate in fragmented, outdated systems that were not built for today's complexities, leading to costly, disruptive upgrades, and a siloed view that hinders strategic decision-making. Workday was founded on a different principle: a single, intelligent cloud platform for finance, HR, and planning. We provide a unified system that connects your entire organisation, providing real-time insight from a single source of truth. This empowers you to move beyond manual reconciliation and make agile, data-driven decisions that are essential for today's public services. Unlike legacy systems, our commitment to continuous innovation ensures you are always on the latest version without the burden of expensive, lengthy upgrade projects. The future of public service demands a new approach. Workday provides the clarity and agility to modernise your operations, ensuring you can lead with confidence and deliver exceptional outcomes for your communities. To learn how we're helping organisations across the UK, we invite you to explore more at workday.com/AI