Sarah Loftus

Managing Director, Make It York

Sarah is Managing Director of Make It York. Prior to this role she was Chief Executive for LincolnBIG, a not-for-profit place making organisation, tasked with ensuring Lincoln city centre was well maintained, welcoming, creatively animated and had great public spaces. She has over 25 years of experience of reducing inequalities and creating growth, having delivered several complex physical and revenue regeneration and town centre management projects. Sarah holds a MPhil in Town planning from University College London. She is passionate about lifelong learning and ensuring everyone has the opportunity to develop skills and ambition.

Stuart Paver

Chair, Make It York & Chair, Pavers

Stuart took up his role as Chairman of Pavers Holdings in 2023 having been Managing Director since 1999 and under his leadership the company has grown significantly to number 190 stores and employ approximately 1950 people in The United Kingdom whilst remaining faithful to its family business ethics. The Pavers Foundation was established in 2018 and to date it has awarded grants of over £2.3M including £425K in humanitarian aid to Ukraine. Stuart continues to support many Local, National and International charities and is an Ambassador for Lepra. He is also a Trustee of Millie Wright Children’s Charity in York.

Katerina Rysova

Senior Insights Manager & Interim Head of Research and Forecasting, VisitBritain

Katerina has 20 years’ experience in Research and Insight. The recent 3 years at VisitBritain and prior to that, she worked as an Insight Manager at Philip Morris International Headquarters in Switzerland. As a Senior Insight Manager, she has been focusing predominantly on domestic tourism insights, however, delivered presentations across both, domestic and inbound tourism using a range of data sources. She has also supported the VisitEngland’s Business Advice Hub and England Marketing with various research projects and insights, including regional analysis and understanding the tourism business landscape in England.

Alex Warner

Chief Executive, Great Scenic Journeys

Alex has 32 years’ experience in the transport industry, having held senior roles including on the board of train, bus, coach, and logistics companies up to and including at Managing Director and Chair level.

For over 14 years, he has also been a columnist in the fortnightly trade press publication ‘Passenger Transport’ magazine, and he is a renowned thought leader and speaker on the conference circuit around customer experience.

Dr Brendan Paddison

As an urban geographer, Brendan's research interests include tourism and destination management, spatial justice, policy, and collaborative forms of destination governance and development. Brendan teaches across a range of Business and Management subject areas, including tourism, responsible business and politics and completed his PhD titled Governance and Community Advocacy in Tourism Development: An International Comparison.

Brendan leads the Visitor Economy and Experience research group at York St John, is co-chair of the Tourism Education Futures Initiative (TEFI) and Chair of the York Tourism Advisory Board. He is Subject Editor: Tourism for the Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Education and a member of the editorial boards for the Journal of Teaching in Travel and Tourism and the e-Review of Tourism Research journal.

Yorwaste

Yorwaste will be on hand to explain the new Simpler Recycling legislation, effective 1 April 2025. Simpler Recycling is a new government reform to the recycling system to make recycling straightforward and consistent. If you are a business with 10+ employees, you will be required to put out dry recyclables and food waste for separate collection from 1 April 2025. It will also apply to micro businesses (less than 10 employees) from 1 April 2027.

You don’t have to navigate these new regulations alone, Yorwaste is here to help. Talk to us about your waste management. We will listen and support you in reaching your goal simply, effectively and cost-efficiently.