W2C-008 Business Telegraph-3.txt
Words of wisdom - at £ 200 a day Robin Morton

Several big names are being lined up for the Northern Ireland conference circuit this autumn - and businessmen will pay more than £ 200 a day to hear their words of wisdom.

Sir John Harvey Jones, the former ICI chairman, known to television audiences for his Troubleshooter series, is to be at the rostrum at the Slieve Donard Hotel in Newcastle next week.

The man who turned a loss into a £ 1bn profit in 30 months will be addressing the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy conference.

Also addressing the conference will be Sir John Banhanm, the former director general of the Confederation of British Industry, and current chairman of the Local Government Commission for England.

The three-day CIPFA conference, which starts next Wednesday, is entitled "Preparing to Win - Northern Ireland in Partnership".

Billy Little, CIPFA's manager in Northern Ireland, said the event would have a wide appeal to those in business, as well as their public sector counterparts.

The subjects covered will range from the Northern Ireland economy and compulsory competitive tendering to how to manage your bank manager. The aim is to show how the private and public sectors can work in tandem.

Delegates taking part in the full programme and staying in the hotel are paying £ 499 a head, while tickets for the star speaker day (Thursday) are £ 235.

The two Sir Johns will be delivering keynote addresses and then taking part in a question and answer session with delegates.

CIPFA said the main conference, which includes workshops and training sessions, had attracted more than 300 delegates, and around 400 had booked for the Thursday.

Meanwhile, plans were unveiled today for the Growing a Green Economy conference at the Balmoral Conference Centre in Belfast on Wednesday October 27.

The one-day event is the first fruits of the Green Economy Working Group which was set up earlier this year by Robert Atkins.

The impetus for the conference has come from current reforms in environmental legislation. The speakers will show how the development of the green market can create opportunities for local businesses.

Speakers will include Jerry Rendell, chief executive of the UK Ecolabelling Board, Shane Molloy, managing director of Lever Ireland, and Hilary Thompson, head of NatWest's environmental management unit.

Tickets cost £ 75, and Robin Dixon, chairman of the working group, said the event would be a turning point for local business and its understanding of the environmental challenge.

Also in October, the Training and Employment Agency is organising an afternoon seminar for chief executives on the subject of "The Virtual Corporation", an American system whereby companies can develop through subsidiary businesses.

The event, on Thursday October 14, at the Slieve Donard Hotel, and the main speaker is Dr Roger Nagel from Lehigh University U.S.A. - tickets free.
