Effective public services-a fresh approach
Lord Reid of Cardowan
John Reid is the most experienced Cabinet Minister of modern times. He has held ministerial posts at Cabinet level including Secretary of State for Health, Secretary of State for Defence, Home Secretary and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. His experience is unparalleled in terms of his range of portfolios, and in breadth and intensity of change management across departments. In his keynote presentation, Lord Reid reflected on recent political and economic developments and shared his views on ways of improving public services. Download Lord Reid's presenation.

Challenges for procurement - lessons from scotland
Alastair Merrill
As Procurement and Commercial Director in the Scottish Government, Alastair leads efforts to drive forward public sector procurement reform in Scotland, which delivers greater efficiency, value for money and contributes to sustainable economic growth. During this session, Alastairl described the transformation of public sector procurement in Scotland over the past five years, the key enablers of successful change, and the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. Download Alastair's presenation.

Public services and social enterprises
Brian Rowntree
Brian is Chairman of the Northern Ireland Housing Executive and holds a number of public appointments. In his session, Brian considered a number of key issues around new models of public service delivery including CSR limitations, forward planning, social investment and local regeneration, corporate governance, legislative frameworks and social enterprise. Downlaod Brian's presenation.

Achieving value for money in public services
Peter Reekie, Scottish Futures Trust
Peter is Director of Finance & Structures in the Scottish Futures Trust, the independent body set up to deliver value for money across all public infrastructure investment in Scotland. Peter shared his experience of the financial and commercial aspects of major public and private sector infrastructure investment projects including innovative projects such as the £300m new acute hospital project for NHS Forth Valley. Download Peter's presenation.

Doing things differently
David Meade
David is one of Europe’s most sought after entertainers and speakers with a reputation for an innovative style that forces audiences to think critically about the challenges around them. His skills have been described as “jaw-dropping” by the Daily Mirror and “mind-boggling” by the BBC. As a professional researcher and lecturer, David is driven by an unconstrained passion for delivering results oritented presentations. This has afforded him the opportunity to work with teams and individuals across the world on developing their creativity, innovativeness, and team productivity. During his session, David encouraged the audience think critically about the challenges around them and provided the delegates with simple and effective tools that can have a staggering impact on their personal and professional effectiveness.

Sweating your assets
David Bentley, CIPFA Property Management
David Bentley is an RICS qualified surveyor with 29 years experience in the public and private sectors. David has been in his current role for nearly 12 years and is recognised as one of the UK’s leading experts on asset management within the public sector. David has authored and edited a number of RICS publications on Asset Management best practice. Download David's presenation.

Perspectives on devolved justice - year two and beyond
Nick Perry
Nick is the Permanent Secretary of the Department of Justice. He joined the Northern Ireland office in 1991, holding a number of policy and finance roles, as well as being Principal Private Secretary to Mo Mowlam and Peter Mandelson. Latterly he was Director General of Criminal Justice & Policing. The Minister of Justice has a clear vision of reshaping the justice system in Northern Ireland and focusing on these strategic priorities, Nick set out the Department's role in delivering the priorities, reflecting the political and economic context. Download Nick's presenation.

The man who cycled around the world
Mark Beaumont
Mark Beaumont holds the Guinness Record for cycling around the world. On Friday 15 February 2008 at 3.30pm, he completed his circumnavigation of the globe by bicycle and arrived back at the Arc de Triomphe 194 days and 17 hours after leaving there on 5 August 2007. The total distance cycled was 18,927 miles through 20 countries. Guinness World Records have verified all the data and confirmed Mark as the new World Record holder by a margin of 81 days.

Mark's story is a personal rollercoaster of mental and physical endurance as well as a fascinating insight into the world we live in. As well as many interesting and amusing stories of 'parched soils and foreign tongues', it is also one of major expedition planning and immense mental and physical endurance. Mark's unique background, latest adventures and future plans make him one of the most sought after and engaging conference speakers in the UK who will inspire those seeking to achieve their professional goals.