Industry Online Meet-Up with UK Export Finance, Loadhog & Pre-Met Engineering

Join our Industry Meet-up!

Join us for a captivating virtual event where industry experts, thought leaders, and professionals gather to share knowledge, insights, and best practices. Our mission is to foster collaboration, inspire innovation, and drive growth within the manufacturing community.

Our industry Meet-up event series features engaging talks from renowned speakers, focusing on key themes that shape the future of manufacturing. This online event covers a wide range of headline topics, including: Future Factories, Sustainable Manufacturing, Growth Strategies, and People & Skills.

Join us for this powerful and inspiring 75-minute event that will ignite your passion and creativity!

September's lineup of speakers and Roundtable Session subtopics includes:

• Mark Lynam, Export Finance Manager at UK Export Finance
  Export Finance: Unlocking Global Growth for UK Manufacturers (Growth Strategies)                                            

In this essential talk, Mark will offer a practical overview of how export finance works and the full suite of support available through UK Export Finance, the UK government’s export credit agency  - including working capital guarantees, credit insurance, and buyer finance. He’ll explain how these tools help businesses overcome challenges such as payment risk, cash flow constraints, and the need to offer competitive terms to overseas buyers.

Mark will share real success stories from SMEs who’ve used export finance to break into new markets, unlock larger contracts, or de-risk their global operations. He’ll also highlight UKEF’s current areas of focus, including support for advanced manufacturing and growth opportunities in key international markets.

Whether you're exploring exports for the first time or already selling overseas and looking to scale, de-risk, or improve your financing options, this session will offer clear, actionable steps to help you get the most out of your export potential.

• Leigh Jowett, Innovation Director at Loadhog
  Cutting CO₂ Through Smarter Product Design (Sustainable Manufacturing)

As sustainability becomes a core focus across manufacturing, reducing the carbon footprint of products is one of the most direct and impactful areas to target. But product redesign for lower emissions is rarely straightforward - it demands tough trade-offs, collaboration across functions, and a clear grasp of carbon across the product lifecycle.

In this session, Leigh Jowett, Innovation Director at Loadhog, offers a candid walkthrough of one of the company’s recent product redesign projects. He’ll unpack the decision-making process, share how the team tackled carbon measurement and material choices, and explore the internal and external challenges they faced - from cost constraints to supplier limitations and team buy-in.

You’ll hear about the CO₂ savings achieved, the wider business impact, and the lessons the team would take into future projects. With practical advice and honest reflections, this talk is essential for any manufacturer looking to make meaningful progress on product-level sustainability, without losing sight of commercial realities.

• James Leng – Managing Director, Pre-Met
  Accelerating Smarter Working Through Strategic M&A (Future Factories)

For manufacturers aiming to modernise and stay competitive, the path to smarter working often requires new capabilities - advanced equipment, broader quality standards, and access to new markets. In this talk, James Leng, Managing Director at Pre-Met, shares how the company has used strategic mergers and acquisitions to fast-track that journey.

James will provide an inside look at how targeted acquisitions helped unlock fresh capabilities, extend quality certifications like JOSCAR and ISO, and strengthen operational resilience. He’ll also explore the challenges of integration - aligning teams, systems, and cultures - and how Pre-Met retained the strengths of both legacy and acquired operations.

With a focus on results, James will highlight how these efforts led to greater efficiency, improved service, and a stronger foundation for future growth. Attendees will take away honest reflections and practical advice for using M&A as a tool for transformation.

• Unlocking the Future Workforce – Are Apprenticeships Evolving Fast Enough? (People & Skills)

From next month, a new wave of Foundation Apprenticeships will launch for 16–21-year-olds entering Engineering and Manufacturing - designed to support early talent and strengthen the future workforce. With incentive payments of up to £2,000 for providers and employers, plus an additional £666 for learners progressing to higher-level apprenticeships, this initiative aims to make early-stage training more attractive and accessible.

In this session, we’ll explore what these changes mean for manufacturers. Are incentives enough to drive uptake? How are businesses navigating the current apprenticeship landscape, and what’s working (or not) on the ground?

This is your chance to share experiences, swap advice, and help shape the conversation around talent pipelines. Whether you’re actively recruiting apprentices or simply curious about how others are approaching workforce development, join us to contribute your perspective.

Agenda: 

9:00am - Member attendees join 
9:02am - Official welcome and event start 
9:02am-9:10am - Community updates and announcements 
9:10am-9:38am - Best practice talks from Made Community speakers 1, 2 & 3 on subtopics such as people & skills, growth strategies, smart factories, or sustainability themes ( each talk is 5-7 mins )
9:40am - Member Virtual Roundtable Sessions on the member selected subtopic (members to choose their session via Made Platform events page )
10:10am - Return to the main room for final remarks and goodbyes