West Midlands Business Festival

Rachel Eade MBE, FRSA

Supply Chain Specialist at UK Metals Council

Rachel Eade is a Manufacturing and Supply Chain Specialist with over 20 years’ experience in business development management roles within the transport manufacturing sector. She continues to play a pivotal role in evolving the SME business support offer, working with and supporting UK OEMs and Tier 1s with growth and innovation support. She is also passionate about supporting the future of the sector and actively advocates for young people to pursue STEM careers. Her wide-ranging portfolio includes Supply Chain Lead for the University of Birmingham’s Centre for Rail Research and Education, Board Member of the Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership, Director of RED Ltd, a supply chain and manufacturing consultancy, Advisory Board Member for TSC, rail, an Elected Member of the Automotive UK Council, and a frequent judge and panel member for many manufacturing awards, Guardian of the Standard of Wrought Plate at the Birmingham Assay Office and newly elected Chair of the UK Metals Council. She has been highly commended for her prominent work. In 2014, she was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s New Year Honours list for services to the automotive industry. In 2015, she received the Institute of Sheet Metal Engineering Gold Medal. Additional recognition includes Female Networker of the Year at the Birmingham Awards (2017), KTN's Top 30 Women in Manufacturing (2020), the TSC Directors Award for Innovation Leader (2021). She is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Steve Bowyer

Head of West Midlands Investment Zone at West Midlands Combined Authority

Steve led the development, and now the implementation of, the West Midlands Investment Zone – working with government and local authority partners to make sure the West Midlands is at the forefront of national ambitions in battery technologies and electric vehicles, green industries, health-tech and digital. This builds on Steve’s role as part of the team securing the region’s trailblazing deeper devolution deal which secured unprecedented powers and funding to the West Midlands. Before joining the West Midlands Combined Authority in 2021, Steve headed up arm’s length economic regeneration companies in south Lincolnshire and Peterborough and has a strong track record in combining urban regeneration with economic, inward investment and skills initiatives for place transformation. ?

Nicola Small

Very Light Rail Programme Director for Coventry City Council & Transport for West Midlands at Coventry City Council

Nicola Small is Very Light Rail Programme Director for Coventry City Council and Transport for West Midlands, with more than 20 years’ experience in local government transport, spanning sustainable travel and major infrastructure delivery. She led the development of the Coventry Station Masterplan and now oversees delivery of the UK’s first urban Very Light Rail demonstration line in Coventry. As Regional Programme Director for the VLR Regional Programme, she works with partners across the West Midlands to secure funding and deliver Coventry VLR, the VLR National Innovation Centre in Dudley and wider mass transit studies and was elected Non-Executive Board Director of UK Tram in 2024.

Hamish Falconer

Project Manager at Colas Rail

Hamish Falconer, Project Director at Colas Rail, is an accomplished Project Manager with eight years’ experience in light rail and very light rail systems. He has successfully led major, multi-disciplinary projects from initial concept and strategic planning through to delivery and commissioning across the UK and Europe. Recognised for his strategic oversight, collaborative leadership style and strong stakeholder engagement, he brings a comprehensive understanding of the full project lifecycle within complex transport and infrastructure environments.

Maria Ion

Project Director at Metro Midland Alliance

Maria Ion is a Project Director at Metro Midland Alliance, with over 15 years’ experience delivering major light rail and infrastructure schemes within multinational organisations. Maria leads the delivery of complex metro projects in Birmingham city centre, overseeing engineering, construction, testing and commissioning through to handover, while ensuring safe, on-time and on-budget delivery with minimal impact on live operations and local communities. She has led the Birmingham Eastside Extension project, including the successful delivery of complex track replacement and Delta junction works in a highly constrained urban environment, alongside multiple metro schemes across the project lifecycle. Maria is passionate about sustainable transport and innovation, championing infrastructure solutions that support greener cities and long-term community benefit.

Midland Metro Alliance

Services: Supply Chain, Construction

The Midland Metro Alliance consists of the West Midlands Combined Authority, which owns West Midlands Metro; a consortium of design experts from Egis, Tony Gee and Pell Frischmann; and rail construction specialists Colas Rail – with Colas’ sub-alliance partners Colas Ltd, Barhale, Bouygues UK and Auctus Management Group.

Colas Rail

Services: Supply Chain, Construction, Manufacturing

Colas Rail is a railway infrastructure company, which also serves as a rail freight operator in the United Kingdom. It is a subsidiary of Bouygues. Colas Rail was founded as Seco Rail by SECO. In the twentieth century, its main activities were railway construction and maintenance.

Coventry Very Light Rail

Services: Supply Chain, Construction, Manufacturing, Rail

Coventry Very Light Rail (CVLR) is an innovative research and development project designed to create an affordable rail-based travel system that can be delivered at less than half the cost and in half the time of conventional light rail systems, while providing the same benefits. The project has developed a new vehicle and track which aims to provide a reliable, frequent, environmentally friendly, hop-on, hop-off service in the city. CVLR will provide residents with an alternative transport option, help improve air quality, reduce congestion, support housing development, and provide jobs and skills. The system's installation will secure local investment and put Coventry at the forefront of the green industrial revolution.

Supply Smarter West Midlands

Services: Manufacturing

Driving advanced manufacturing innovation in the West Midlands.

Business Growth West Midlands (West Midlands Combined Authority)

Services: Business Support

Business Growth West Midlands gives you FREE tailored support from your very own Business Adviser, as well as programmes, training and events to help you network, learn and reach your business ambitions.