Our speakers have been carefully selected for their credibility, knowledge and wealth of experience within their professions. Speakers will be available throughout the day for further consultation.
Our Speakers
Colin Parry
Tim Parry Jonathan Ball Foundation for Peace: (Co-founder/Chairman)
“We are delighted to have Colin Parry opening the conference and sharing his inspirational story. Colin embodies how people can achieve even their most difficult goals, after he put his life back together in the aftermath of his son’s death.
Tim was just 12 years old when he was killed by an IRA bomb in Warrington town centre in 1993, and since then Colin has worked tirelessly to promote peace and understanding locally, nationally and globally has been recognised with several prestigious awards for his work campaigning for peace.”
Alison Wren
“Alison created E-Commerce business The Wedding Crafter in 2004, growing it from back bedroom start-up to a 6 figure turnover with 6 staff and a custom fitted workshop and warehouse.”
Paula Cohen
Taylory Business Coach
“Paula has worked in training and development for the last 15 years, including 7 years as a Business Coach with ActionCOACH. She has worked with everything from one-man (or one-woman!) bands to…”
Kerry Quinn
KSQ Consulting (Digital Marketing)
“Kerry Sarah Quinn in an experienced marketer and business consultant with over 15 years’ experience. Her extensive background includes working for some of the largest global and international corporations…”
Chris Grice
Tree Frog Digital (All things Google)
“Chris is a Google search specialist with over 15 years in the web industry working on brands like Virgin and Oxfam to our very own County Brides Magazine. His business Tree Frog Creative has a focus on Organic Search (SEO) and Google Marketing…
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Duane Thornborough
County Brides
“I have been involved in the wedding industry for over 35 years and have nine years publishing experience producing County Brides which covers the North West. My wife, Dawn, and I run the business together…”
Jen Hinds
Jen Hinds Marketing
“Having worked in Marketing and Communications for nearly 25 years, Jen is passionate about helping business owners get great results from using the amazing tools that are available in today’s world…”
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Alex Billingsley
Alex Billingsley has over 20 years experience in web design & development. His skills have been honed over this time by working as a freelancer, then a studio manager for a large agency in Chester for 4 years, followed by the starting up of his own business over 10 years ago specialising in providing Design and Development services both online and offline.
Over the past 6 years Social Media Management and Optimisation have also become areas where his broad knowledge has helped many SME’s get the most from their budgets. Alex and his team also boast a enviable track record in looking after the websites, creative and online marketing of some of the wedding industry’s leading brands.
Alison Wren
Alison created E-Commerce business The Wedding Crafter in 2004, growing it from back bedroom start-up to a 6 figure turnover with 6 staff and a custom fitted workshop and warehouse. In 2011 she sold the business for family reasons and now runs Paprika Marketing, creating and implementing effective online strategies for small business.
Alison also owns and edits Wedding Business Success, a blog for wedding businesses and is Head Judge for the North of England Wedding Awards.
Paula Cohen
Paula has worked in training and development for the last 15 years, including 7 years as a Business Coach with ActionCOACH. She has worked with everything from one-man (or one-woman!) bands to national blue-chip companies
She helps people to find their focus; to set and achieve ambitious targets; and to create a work-life balance that is truly rewarding.
Alison Hargreaves
Alison is the founder and Managing Director of Guides for Brides, one of the UK’s most popular wedding websites. Over the past 21 years her company has grown from producing a single printed local wedding directory to a team of 18 communicating with more than 2 million brides and 100,000 wedding businesses per year.
Alison is a judge for The Wedding Industry Awards and for the Bridal Buyer Awards. Winning Oxfordshire Business of the Year 2015, Alison now co-ordinates the Guides for Brides Customer Service Awards which recognises the growing importance of customer reviews by rewarding Businesses for their exceptional online reviews and testimonials.
Duane Thornborough
I have been involved in the wedding industry for over 35 years and have nine years publishing experience producing County Brides which covers the North West.
My wife, Dawn, and I run the business together and we have been married for twenty six years so we must be doing something right as we are together 24/7 at work and at home!
I love meeting people at wedding fayres helping them to find the perfect suppliers and helping companies to grow their businesses, and away from the world of weddings I enjoy music, photography, raising money for charity and travelling to new places.
Kerry Sarah Quinn
Kerry Sarah Quinn in an experienced marketer and business consultant with over 15 years’ experience. Her extensive background includes working for some of the largest global and international corporations such as Shell, RSM Tennon & Drake International, where she enjoyed roles developing new business opportunities, creating sales processes and implementing marketing initiatives on a Pan European level.
Kerry is a thought leader and enjoys working with SMEs to help them navigate the digital marketing landscape. She is passionate about all things digital and she seeks to address the issues businesses face with fast moving technology. She is on a mission to bridge the digital skills gap and is passionate for the North East’s digital economy to grow.
Kerry has enjoyed a variety of speaking engagements at various leading industry conferences up and down the country and has had the pleasure of delivering seminars about the benefits of digital marketing to industry experts.
Her company Kerry Sarah Quinn Consulting is a marketing consultancy and digital marketing training company, which is an Education Partner with the Digital Marketing Institute – the world’s global accredited and certified digital marketing course provider. Kerry delivers professional diplomas throughout the UK.
Ned Poulter
Ned Poulter is an experienced, imaginative, and enthusiastic entrepreneur and digital marketing consultant. He worked both agency-side and in-house in various roles across Europe before starting his own digital marketing consultancy – Pole Star Digital.
He specialises in SEO, PPC and Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) but he’s also a leading industry voice on Web Analytics, Social Media and Digital Strategy Development.