Sir Ben Ainslie to speak at the Shaping Portsmouth Conference 2025

Shaping Portsmouth are delighted to announce that Sir Ben Ainslie will be the Keynote Speaker at their Shaping Portsmouth Conference in January.

Sir Ben is CEO of Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team. He is also the most successful Olympic sailor in history, with four golds and one silver medal, gained in a 16-year span from 1996 to 2012.

Dave Humphries, CEO of Shaping Portsmouth, said “It’s great to have SailGP returning to Portsmouth in July 2025 and to have Sir Ben Ainslie, as CEO for the British Team, joining us at conference. Most people will know of Sir Ben as the most successful sailing Olympian ever, but he is also hugely passionate about driving positive impact for society and the planet. As a team, Emirates GBR work with business networks to find sustainable solutions and to support a shared mission to inspire 3 million young people globally in STEM and Climate education. We are really looking forward to talking to him about this and how we can support as a city.”

Sir Ben Ainslie will be joined on stage by Roy Bedlow, Founder and CEO of Low Carbon, to discuss Low Carbon’s partnership with The Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team which will support three million young people to take climate action in addition to supporting the team to become the most sustainable elite sporting squad in the world.

The Shaping Portsmouth Conference will be taking place on Friday 17th January 2025.

After a welcome from Andy Grays, CEO of the Portsmouth Guildhall the host and main sponsor of the event, and Shaping Portsmouth Co-Chairs Simon Barrable and Mark Waldron, the day starts with a focus on Shaping Portsmouth’s Business Pillar, with CEO Dave Humphries and Director Jane Lamer introducing the Portsmouth Business Support Service team and Luca Frederick from LocalLinked to discuss his experiences with the service. They will be followed by Anne Murphy from the University of Portsmouth, to talk about their Business Consultancy Project, joined by the amazing group of students assisting Shaping Portsmouth this year. Cllr Steve Pitt, Leader of Portsmouth City Council, returns for his always-popular council update, this time with a focus on the City Vision project and Portsmouth’s upcoming Centenary celebrations.

The second stage of the day turns to the Education Pillar, as Director Hayden Taylor joins Dave to present an update on the Apprenticeship Bus, Explore Your Future, and Shaped By Solent programmes. Shaped By Solent will then take centre stage as Dom Jones from The Mary Rose Museum explains their partnership with the programme this year and presents the amazing products designed by the SEND students of Solent Academies Trust that will be available for purchase during the networking break. Following the networking the winning product will be announced, as voted for by delegates, which will be sold in the Mary Rose Museum shop for the rest of the year.

For the final section of the event, Dave and Director Chris Hillman will lead a look at the Community Pillar, including details of the revamped Portsmouth Ambassador programme. Clare Martin MBE from Pompey in the Community will then kick off an exciting new project, and CP Robinson from Portsmouth Pride will take to the stage for the unofficial launch of UK Pride 2025 ahead of the official launch that evening.

Throughout the day, the Shaping Portsmouth Awards will be presented to celebrate the amazing work being done in the city, and there will be opportunities for networking and visiting the exhibition stands.

Steff Jones, Operations Manager at Shaping Portsmouth, said “We’re looking forward to welcoming you all to the Shaping Portsmouth Conference 2025. We have an excellent line-up of presenters, speakers, and exhibits. I’m particularly looking forward to the unofficial launch of UK Pride 2025, with their official event happening on the evening of the 17th, and Sir Ben Ainslie joining us to talk about his return to Portsmouth. Another highlight for me is the progression of our Shaped By Solent project with the city’s SEND Schools; previous conference attendees will notice an exciting new element to this.”