Nicola Lathbury – BIO
Nicola is a multi award winning influencer in the Facilities Management and workplace industry. A Master Connector, with contacts developed over a 20 year period recruiting senior FM professionals, before selling her recruitment business and moving into FM, and ten years running events for IWFM, as Past Chair of Women in FM and Midlands Region simultaneously. Nicola is the Founder of FM Connect, an inclusive networking community for the FM and Workplace sector, delivering events across the country. Nicola also works full time as a consultant for For People and Places, a service optimisation and business growth consultancy.
Stephanie Wiechers – BIO
Many CAFM implementations stall for the same reason: messy data goes in, nobody trusts what comes out, and teams slide back to spreadsheets. Fixing it once meant extra headcount or offshore teams working through thousands of records by hand. Stephanie Wiechers, founder and CEO of Pearstop, has changed that. Pearstop uses AI to clean and structure asset and procurement data for FM and construction businesses, including SPIE and Strukton, with people reviewing only what needs a human eye. The result: systems teams actually use, reports they can trust, and hours back from manual admin.
Jon Marsh – BIO
Buying FM technology is the easy part; making it deliver is where most projects are won or lost. Jon Marsh, Head of Sales UK at SINGU Group, focuses on both. SINGU provides space management, compliance, and hard and soft FM technology to thousands of clients in the UK and worldwide. For Jon, closing the deal is only the start: he stays close to clients to make sure the technology they invest in goes on to achieve what it was bought for. His belief is simple: successful implementations are built on strong client relationships.
Kris Rowland – BIO
When a Legionnaires’ disease case is suspected, there is no margin for error. Kris Rowland has spent nearly 30 years in Legionella control and water hygiene, including almost two decades as a laboratory microbiologist and chemist, guiding organisations through exactly those investigations. As Head of Technical, Training and Compliance at Aqualytix, part of Severn Trent Services, he now oversees governance across Aqualytix and its sister businesses and supports the Group’s acquisition due diligence. A founding member and co-host of the Midlands Legionella Focus Group, Kris is a respected voice for raising standards in water safety and compliance.
Beyond the Technology explores why successful Facilities Management Innovation depends not on technology alone, but on organizational readiness, operational excellence and effective leadership.
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Lawrence Ojogwu is a Project Manager with over 15 years’ experience delivering complex capital projects across facilities management, infrastructure, decarbonisation and public sector estates. He currently leads multi-million-pound programmes for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, working with clients, consultants and contractors to deliver sustainable, operationally effective outcomes. Lawrence is passionate about the future of Facilities Management and believes successful transformation extends beyond technology to leadership, culture, governance and people. He enjoys sharing practical lessons from live projects, helping organisations bridge the gap between digital innovation, operational excellence and measurable business value.
For the first time in history, organisations have four or more generations working side by side. In this talk generational expert Alex demonstrates not only how to overcome the challenges from multiple generations in your workforce but use them to move the organisation forward, and faster.
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Alex Atherton is an award-winning keynote speaker and generational expert specialising in Gen Z in the workplace and multigenerational workforce dynamics. His education background brings a unique perspective to helping organisations recruit, retain and develop Gen Z talent. Alex equips leaders and managers with proven strategies to turn age and generational diversity into competitive advantage. He is the author of the Amazon bestseller The Snowflake Myth, which challenges negative stereotypes about Generation Z.
“Net Zero Without Insight Is Just a Statement” explores why we are entering what Alan Stenson calls “the credibility decade” of sustainability. The talk challenges the growing trend of organisations setting ambitious net zero targets without fully understanding where their emissions sit, particularly across complex supply chains. Combining practical insight with real-world experience, the session highlights why credible data, transparency, supplier engagement, and measurable action are now becoming the true differentiators in sustainability, procurement, and business trust.
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Alan has been a sustainability entrepreneur for the past 18 years. Having established a carbon management consultancy in 2006, Alan has been luckyenough to work with many early adopters and industry leaders across a wide range of industries. In 2022 he co-founded Neutral Carbon Zone with anexceptional team of talented colleagues to create a tech-enabled solution for managing organisational, operational and supply-chain emissions, to takemotivated clients on their journey to net zero.
Walk away with tangible, actionable tools to apply immediately—no theory, just practical strategies to begin using today.
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After 15 years of consulting for global organisations, I made a life-changing decision to leave my career & start a business. It was a leap of faith that launched me into an extraordinary journey of self-discovery. I immersed myself in personal growth, studying human behaviour, metaphysics, Reiki and NLP. What began as curiosity grew into an obsession—and through this transformative journey, I discovered two life-changing principles: the power of emotional resilience and clarity of a personal path. These principles didn’t just shift my perspective; they redefined my purpose & became the foundation of my work. Now, as a mentor and speaker, I help people master their emotions & make decisions aligned with their values and vision—guiding them to break free from limitations and reach their full potential.
FM and engineering teams focus on operational efficiency, compliance, and technical performance, but may not fully appreciate how their work directly impacts asset value, capital planning, and ultimately the financial health and strategic direction of the organisation. The presentation will challenge attendees to think beyond the day-to-day technicalities of FM and consider the broader business impact.
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Frank Lee is an Associate Director at PwC’s Real Estate Advisory practice based in London. He provides strategic, commercial, financial and operational advice in relation to infrastructure, buildings and assets.
Frank works with UK and global corporate occupiers, investors and public sector clients on a wide range of advisory mandates – focused on real estate operations covering strategy, operating model, digital technology, sustainability and value creation.
This session explores how transformational technologies, including artificial intelligence, data, and automation, could reshape facilities management, creating smarter workplaces, improving sustainability, and unlocking new opportunities for people and organisations.
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Andrew Hulbert is the Chair of the Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management (IWFM). A recognised entrepreneur and advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion, he has championed initiatives that deliver social impact and sustainability. Andrew is also at the forefront of technology in the sector, embracing innovation and artificial intelligence to drive smarter, more effective solutions. Widely respected for challenging outdated approaches, he inspires others to find their voice and contribute to a more inclusive, forward-thinking workplace and facilities management industry.
In today’s rapidly evolving job market, attracting and keeping top talent from Generation Z has become a critical challenge for organisations across all industries and the future of work in general. Gen Z is the most significant generational shift so far. Many organisations are struggling to recruit and retain the best of this generation. Traditional methods of recruitment no longer work, and problems with retention are more acute than ever.
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Alex Atherton is an experienced educator and leadership coach. He is the former secondary school headteacher who heard the word ‘snowflake’ once too often to describe his former students. He spent over a decade immersed in the mindset of this misunderstood generation, getting to the core of what makes them tick. Alex blends his experiences, research, and a hefty dose of reality to shatter the myths around Gen Z. He equips leaders and managers with proven strategies to overcome generational divides and effectively recruit, develop, and retain top young talent.