Join experts to discuss the developments in steel markets during 2021 and what the implications might be in industry sectors 

Paul Polman will be presenting on Net Positive and will be joining us for a fireside chat on Sustainability alongside Annemarie Manger, Tata Steel Director Sustainability & HSEQ.

Influencer, business leader, campaigner, Co-Author of Net Positive: how courageous companies thrive by giving more than they take, due out in October 2021, Paul works to accelerate action by business to tackle climate change and inequality. A leading proponent that business should be a force for good, Paul has been described by the Financial Times as “a standout CEO of the past decade”.

As CEO of Unilever (2009-2019), he demonstrated that a long-term, multi-stakeholder model goes hand-in-hand with excellent financial performance. Paul was a member of the UN Secretary General’s High-Level Panel which developed the Sustainable Development Goals and which he continues to champion, working with global organizations and across industry to push the 2030 development agenda.

Paul’s new book, Net Positive, is a call to arms to courageous business leaders, setting out how to build net positive companies which profit by fixing the world’s problems rather than creating them. He Chairs IMAGINE, a social venture dedicated to systems change, and Saïd Business School, and he is Vice-Chair of the UN Global Compact as well as a B Team Leader. Paul is Honorary Chair of the International Chamber of Commerce, which he led for two years.

Laurence Janssens will be taking part in a fireside chat on Digitalisation with Tata Steel Chief Information Officer, Kees Gerretse and Enterprise Architect, Emma McKay.

Mrs Janssens currently serves as the head of the manufacturing sector for Western Europe.In this capacity she empowers the digital transformation of process and discrete manufacturers. She relocated to Europe 18 months ago from Africa where she was the country manager for Angola, Botswana, Namibia and Zambia. Mrs Janssens over saw the activities of Microsoft in these 4 countries and was part of the leadership team of Microsoft that manages 65 countries across Africa & the Levant region.

Mrs Janssens originally joined Microsoft in Belgium six years ago. She was part of the Belgian senior leadership team and a director on the boards of the “Microsoft Innovation Centers” which are private public partnerships with Belgian government entities, Microsoft and other private partners aimed at promoting local innovation, start ups and entrepreneurship.

She is an advocate of diversity and inclusion at board level, a member of “Women on Board”and one of the”Inspiring Fifty”Belgian women in Tech. She also serves on the MBA admissions committee of the BAEF (Belgian American Education Foundation).

She started her career as a strategic consultant at Bain & Company, held various sales management positions in Belgium and abroad in Telecom and Tech sector. She is a BAEF fellow, holds an MBA from the Chicago Booth school of business, a commercial engineer master’s degree from KUL and a commercial engineer bachelor’s degree from UCL.

Laurence holds both Belgian and Swiss citizenship, is married and is the mother of three teenage boys.

Emanuele Norsa is our host for the event and will be leading the fireside chat on Steel markets alongside Russell Codling, Director Marketing and Business Development Tata Steel and James Campbell, Principal Analyst, Steel, CRU. 

Emanuele currently holds the position of Editor at Kallanish Commodities; he is responsible for their weekly publication and continues to oversee coverage of key European markets.

Before joining Kallanish in 2016, Emanuele worked for Steel Business Briefing, covering the European steel industry from 2010, before becoming EMEA Steel Managing Editor at Platts in 2014.

Emanuele speaks five languages and has been participating as speaker and moderator for a number of international events, organised by the likes of Eurometal, Bloomberg, Platts, LME and Made in Steel. 

He has been invited to give comments on steel markets for the BBC, Reuters, ITV and Il Sole 24, among others.

Isobel Sheldon OBE will be taking part in our Technology fireside chat along with Basjan Berkhout, Electrification Transition Manager, Automotive, Tata Steel. 

Isobel Sheldon is Chief Strategy Officer at Britishvolt and a seasoned battery industry professional. In this role, Isobel’s familiarity with the global battery landscape allows her to lead a ‘home-grown’ initiative and the UK achieving market leading status in the production of high-performance lithium-ion cells.

Having amassed nearly 20 years of Lithium-ion battery industry experience, she joins the company from the Government-backed UKBIC where she served as Director of Business Development. Prior to this, she held senior leadership positions within global companies, recently serving as Engineering and Technology Director at Johnson Matthey Battery Systems.

As one of the first pioneers to integrate lithium-ion batteries in road vehicles, she has developed a wealth of knowledge – from cell technology, cell manufacturing chemistries and system integration, to how the global industry and supply chain works.

Isobel was recently awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in Her Majesty The Queen's New Year's List of Honours for her services to the field of motor vehicle battery technology. The award recognises her work in the lithium-ion battery field.

James will be joining our Steel markets fireside chat alongside Emanuele Norsa and Tata Steel Director Marketing and Business Development, Russell Codling.  James has over 20 years experience in the steel industry and joined CRU in 2017. 

Previously, James worked for Tata Steel where he fulfilled a number of commercial roles in the UK and the Netherlands. As well as being a member of the UK strip products commercial management team, James has worked in both strategic and operational marketing roles. 

Industry experience includes managing industry analysis, price policy and price forecasting processes. In his current role he leads CRU's finished steel analysis. 

He has a BSc (Hons) in Applied Chemistry from Aston University and a PhD in Supramolecular Chemistry from the University of Birmingham, UK.