Institute of Directors and BWN INsiders working in partnership for the good of East of England businesses
Alison Charles from Real Resilience is also the Institute of Directors regional CEO and has the pleasure of hosting this Autumn’s exclusive event for decision makers and larger regional companies.
An exciting opportunity to network and learn with business owners and professionals from across every sector. Alison is also an BWN INsider for many years and asked our Founder Mandie Holgate to deliver one of the keynotes at this prestigious event.
Alison said “This is a flagship business event designed to inspire, connect, and empower ambitious leaders from across the East of England. This full-day conference features a compelling line-up of speakers sharing bold insights, practical strategies, and inspiring stories that challenge conventional thinking and spark transformative growth. Whether you’re scaling up, breaking new ground, or looking to take the next leap, this is your opportunity to network with fellow leaders, explore future shaping ideas, and get expert input tailored to your journey.”
Mandie’s keynote is titled “The relationship advantage – build bonds that build businesses.”
The secrets to building lifelong relationships that deliver to you and your company.
In this fast paced, delegate results driven presentation you hear how relationships could be the secret to higher profits, reducing marketing spend, faster innovation, customer retention, brand appreciation and a sustainable company into 2026.
• Learn how to build exceptional relationships faster at a low price point.
• Utilise AI without losing the human touch navigating the AI risks.
• Understand how to get ahead of the competition and thrive no matter what the global climate.
• How to encourage loyalty and growth opening doors to new opportunities.
• How and why you need to bring trust and transparency into your company.
The good news is that INsiders can attend this event for free. Book here
But that’s the only good news for BWN INsiders attending, alongside the main stage, you’ll have access to a Business Clinic, a dedicated space where growth experts and service sector specialists will be sharing practical support, advice, and solutions to help your business overcome challenges and seize new opportunities.
Mandie has kindly gifted her Business Clinic space to active INsiders to share their knowledge and advice for businesses, including;
Haider Raza from Sensiwise, offering practical solutions for businesses with AI, and made national press recently with their work on the project to support cancer detection using AI. Dr Haider Raza is a UK-based AI researcher, educator, and entrepreneur. Now a Senior Lecturer in Artificial Intelligence at the University of Essex, he founded Sensiwise AI with a mission to make AI affordable, ethical, and accessible: especially for small and medium-sized businesses. While big corporations turn to Big 4 consultancies and FANG, Sensiwise empowers organisations that often get left behind. From healthcare to education and financial wellbeing, Sensiwise delivers practical AI solutions, from admin automation to predictive insights, helping clients become truly AI-ready while staying cost-effective and responsible. Learn more here.
Along with Haider will be long time BWN INsider, Jayne Meek from Spritzmonkey. Spritzmonkey are a cyber and information security consultancy providing ISO 27001, vCISO, SOC 2 and Cyber Essentials. ISO 20000-1 is the international standard for IT service management systems. ISO 20000-1 certification could help your business in many ways including promoting a culture for continual improvement, improving credibility and performance, increasing customer satisfaction and conformance to other regulations. Learn more about Spritzmonkey here.
Joining the experts on the BWN INsiders table will be James Kearney from Focus Ecommerce and Marketing. An BWN INsider for 2 years now James has been a trusted expert on ecommerce and SEO for many years supporting many INsiders. Talking all things Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Web Design, Social Media Marketing , Graphic Design, Email Marketing and Advertising, you will want to stop by and ask some questions about your digital marketing needs. Learn more about James and the Focus team here.
The even better news for BWN INsiders attending this IOD event is the longer term Insider benefits that are being exclusively offered.
25% discount of your first year IOD membership and the possibility of delivering a webinar as part of the 2026 programme. (This is dependent on the other speakers booked for 2026 and content supplied. For more information contact Alison Charles via the INsiders here.)
We often have exclusive offers via Mandie, you will also get to see some of our INsiders at this years national The Business Show where we have also secured exclusive discounts thanks to our partnership with The Business Show. To learn more tag us on the INsiders or email us here.
