North West Resources Forum Celebrates First Anniversary with Sector Leaders at Manchester Event

The North West Resources F

Our Launch event in 2025 at the Renew Hub

orum (NWRF) will celebrate its first anniversary on 18^th March with a milestone event at the Renew Hub in Manchester, bringing together leaders from across the resources and waste sector to reflect on a year of impact and look ahead to the challenges shaping the industry.

Since launching in April 2025 at the Renew Hub, the Forum has hosted meetings across the region, culminating in its Annual Conference at Jodrell Bank. Over the past year, NWRF has welcomed 445 attendees and 19 expert speakers, creating a collaborative platform for local authorities, hospital trusts, micro-businesses, and multinational organisations, and welcomed 23 organisations from across the sector as sponsors, dubbed the ‘Friends of the NWRF’. Throughout its first year, the Forum has addressed a diverse range of topics including innovation across the sector, equity and inclusion, the future of textiles, the role of carbon in shaping legislation, artificial intelligence in resource management, emissions trading, and mental health in the workplace.

The anniversary event will be chaired by Jo Holmes, Managing Director of Genee Consulting, and will feature a diverse line-up of expert speakers addressing innovation, legislation, behaviour change and tackling waste crime.

Speakers include recycling historian Dr Henry Irving; environmental lawyer and waste crime specialist Dr Anna Willetts, Partner at GunnerCooke; Samantha Carty from SUEZ, who will present the organisation’s We Refuse Abuse campaign; and Michelle Whitfield from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, who will share insights from the latest behaviour change hierarchy report produced by Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM).

The event is sponsored by SUEZ, a Gold Friend of the Forum, demonstrating its continued commitment to sector collaboration and innovation. The Renew Hub, a Bronze Friend of the Forum, will host the event in the venue where the Forum launched.

The North West Resources Forum has embedded social value into its events programme over the past year by seeking to work with suppliers, both venue and catering, that invest in their local communities. The Renew Hub is driving reuse at scale across Greater Manchester, providing affordable goods to residents, supporting employability and green skills training, and contributing to offender rehabilitation initiatives.

Lunch at the anniversary event will be provided by Open Kitchen, a social enterprise that intercepts surplus food and transforms it into high-quality catering while supporting communities experiencing food insecurity.

Speaking ahead of the event, Chair of the NWRF, Jo Holmes said:

“It has been fantastic to see the NWRF grow over the past 12 months, since launching at the Renew Hub. From the launch meeting onwards, it has been clear that there is a real appetite in the industry for a forum like the NWRF, bringing together colleagues from across the sector and sharing knowledge and innovations, it already feels so well established. It’s clear that we work better when we don’t work in silos, be open to hearing other’s perspectives, and share our expertise where we can. I’m grateful that the NWRF can be a space for open discussion and look forward to seeing this continue to grow and support the industry in the North West. Our forum is free to attend and for anyone working in or with the waste and resources sector.”

The 18^th March event will provide a space for reflection, knowledge-sharing and renewed collaboration as the Forum continues to support a more sustainable, innovative and socially responsible resources sector across the North West. You can register your attendance at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1982793490706?aff=oddtdtcreator