Annual President’s Virtual Lunch 05 March

The Event
The 2021 Annual President’s Virtual Lunch is being held online for the first time in its history on Friday 05 March.
The popular annual event is a celebration of business and leadership in the North West and, as it sounds and as with most aspects of life this year, the event will be slightly different to the traditional sit-down business lunch we would normally have hosted. Speakers include Kevin Holland, Chief Executive of InvestNI, Stephen Gillespie of DCSDC and inspirational speaker, Andrew Toogood, all with the support of event sponsors, O’Neills.
Also included will be a structured networking session, an aspect of theCovid pandemic that has been missed by the business community, which will offer an opportunity to meet and talk with business colleagues and peersin smaller groups.
Attracting an audience of representatives from the business, political, educational, and social life of the region, this event is traditionally one of the highlights in our calendar and will offer unrivalled opportunities for networking in sector- led breakout group
ThePresident has chosen Aware NI as her charity this year and a donation will be made on behalf of the Chamber out of ticket sales following this virtual Lunch event.

Aware NI is a Derry-born mental health charity and hasan established network of 23 support groups in rural and urban areas across the country, which are run by trained volunteers.
https://aware-ni.org/
Scroll down to book tickets – Member £20+VAT, Non-member £30+ VAT.

PLEASE NOTE THAT REGISTRATIONS WILL CLOSE ON WEDNESDAY 03 MARCH AT 5.00PM

Any queries, please call the Chamber team on 02871 262379
Agenda
11.00 Introduction and welcome from CEO of Londonderry Chamber of Commerce, Paul Clancy
11.05 Chamber President, Dawn McLaughlin
11.15 Viewpoint from our Sponsor, Kieran Kennedy, Managing Director, O’Neill’s
11.25 Keynote business speaker: Kevin Holland, Chief Executive, InvestNI
11.40 Networking in breakout groups
12.30 Stephen Gillespie, Directorof Business and Culture, Derry City & Strabane District Council to deliver City Deal update
12.40 Keynote motivational speaker, Andrew Toogood
1.00 CEO thanks speakers and closes event
                                              Kindly sponsored by:
  

Speaker bios:

Paul Clancy, Chief Executive, Londonderry Chamber of Commerce
Paul Clancy qualified as an Electrical Engineer BSc Elec Hons from Trinity College Dublin and has Diplomas in both Manufacturing and Human Resource Management with the Irish Management Institute (IMI). He has held a number of senior management roles within the Agri, Food, Drinks and Manufacturing Industries within Ireland, UK and Scandinavia. Paul has held Sales Director, Marketing and Managing Director roles and most recently was the MD of Baxi Ireland (Part of BDR Thermea).
As CEO of the Londonderry Chamber of Commerce, Paul is looking forwardto leading this organisation through what are some very challenging times.
 

Dawn McLaughlin, President of Londonderry Chamber of Commerce
Dawn is the principal of the progressive, award winning accountancy practice, Dawn McLaughlin & Co.
She is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland (FCA) and has a BSc (Hons)in Accounting and Economics. Dawn trained and qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Price Waterhouse where she managed the SME department in the North West branch before establishing her own practice.
For the past 34 yearsDawn has specialised in advising locally owned and managed SMEs throughout the UK and Ireland.
Dawn is currently Chair of the Chartered Accountants North West Network, she has been the Chair of the Institute of Management – NW Ulster Branch, a member of the Regional Board for Northern Ireland and also on the Member Services Committee of the Ulster Society of theInstitute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland as the NW representative and a member of the Board of the local leadership team of Business in the Community.
She was founder member of the Support My Business NI Initiative providing mentoring and workshops on a pro bono basis to Northern Ireland businesses.
 

Kieran Kennedy, Managing Director, O’Neills
Kieran has over 40 years’ experience working in the textile manufacturingand social enterprise sectors. He is managing director of O’Neills IrishInternational Sports Company Limited since 1988 and was appointed to the Board of InvestNI on 1 April 2020.
Kieran is also chairman of Strabane Training Services and chairman of Strabane BID (Business Improvement District), both voluntary positions. In 2019 Kieran was awarded the Global Ireland Award for service to Irish enterprise by the Consulate General in Boston.
 

 Kevin Holland, Chief Executive, InvestNI
Kevin Holland is an experienced global business leader with 25 years’ international expertise leading businesses in over 50 countries and advising businesses on innovation, investment and growth.
He was appointed CEOfor Invest NI in 2019 and leads the region’s economic development agency with a team of 650 and a budget of £170m. Invest NI’s remit is to develop Northern Ireland’s economy and support businesses to recover after Covid-19, making a positive impact for the people of Northern Ireland. The agency drives innovation and entrepreneurship, attracts domestic and foreign investment, and helps companies build exports which create jobs andimprove competitiveness.
From 2016-19, he was Minister-Counsellor Life Sciences, Health and Social Care at the British Embassy in Beijing, building extensive expertise on the Chinese healthcare system and business environment. As an accredited diplomat in China, he led a team to expand trade and market access for British companies in China, to increase investment into UK life sciences’ sector and to shape government policy on registration, reimbursement and healthcare.
Previously he gained 15 years’ extensive global commercial experience at Baxter, (a US headquartered $15bn life sciences company). He led Baxter’s $600m businesses in Russia, Turkey, Middle East and Africa, building a high growth, compliance- focused business employing 1500 people with a portfolio of pharma, biotech and medical devices for chronic and severe diseases.
Kevin has served as Board Director in manufacturing, commercial and clinical Joint Ventures and as Vice President Market Access Europe in Switzerland, General Manager MEA in Dubai, Business Unit Director Nordic in Sweden and Director of Strategy and Business Development in Belgium.
After graduating from Oxford University as a chemist, Kevin first held European R&D management roles at Unilever for 10 years, leading innovation, industrialisation and commercialisation and later graduated in business with an MBA from IMD in Switzerland.
 

Stephen Gillespie, Director of Business and Culture, Derry City & Strabane District Council
Stephen Gillespie is the Director of Business and Culture at Derry City and Strabane District Council. The Business and Culture directorate encompasses a range of services such as economic development and job creation, business support and engagement, ICT, tourism, arts and culture, visitorservices, heritage and museums and marketing and communications.Stephen qualified as an accountant in 1996 having trained in an industrial settingwith Desmond and Sons, the clothing manufacturer. He then moved on to become the Financial Controller at Londonderry Port and Harbour Commissioners. This private sector experience has been invaluable in the current role.

Andrew Toogood
Andrew is one of the leading leadership development facilitators and speakers in the UK. With over 20 years’ experience in the various sector, his approach is down toearth, humorous and he has a natural ability to motivate & inspire his audience. A member of the IITD, Andrew specialises in developing emotionally intelligent leaders and high performing teams. He works with leading brands internationally, developing leadership capacity in individuals, teams and organisations. Andrew gained significant commercial experienceover a decade working in Corporate Banking for an international banking group. The experience of managing teams and clients across different countries and regions, as well as development & implementation of businessdevelopment strategy for global companies, gives Andrew a clear insight into the issues facing businesspeople today. Andrew is the only certified Herrmann Whole Brain® practitioner in Northern Ireland. Used by 97% of Fortune 100 companies, this methodology helps leadership & management teams to drive strategy, communication, innovation, and productivity.