REG Connects 2026 – Coming Back Bigger & Better

Tom Stannard is the Chief Executive of Manchester City Council, one of the largest Core Cities in the UK and a highly performing organisation of over 8,000 staff. Manchester is a fast growing and diverse city of over 645,100 people, with a proud history of successfully competing on the global stage to attract investment, jobs and visitors. Tom works closely with Cllr Bev Craig as Leader of the Council, focussed on maximising these strengths and ensuring that growth generates benefits for the whole city, providing excellent day-to-day services and improving the lives of Manchester’s residents.

Manchester is the major driver of regional growth across the 3M population, £87bn GDP Greater Manchester city region. The City Council is a key member of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and partner in the £8BN+ GMCA devolution programme, and Tom is currently the GMCA Chief Executive lead for the economy, business and international portfolio. He also leads Manchester’s integrated health and social care system as the designated Place-Based Lead for Manchester in the Greater Manchester Integrated Care System (ICS), with NHS Greater Manchester.

Tom joined Manchester City Council following more than 27 years of experience in local government across the UK, including in Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire and London. Most recently he spent four years as the Chief Executive of Salford City Council, leading the Council to some of the highest levels of performance in the North West, and recognition in 2024 as City of the Year and the LGC’s Best Place to Work. He is nationally recognised as a leading voice in local government, and has a track record of delivery in regeneration, inclusive growth, public service reform and improving council services.

Tom is a Chartered Surveyor, a Member and Chair of the UK Institute of Economic Development, and a Commissioner on the Living Wage Foundation for the UK. He also serves as a Trustee for The Lowry Centre Trust. For a number of years, he has been a member, policy lead and spokesperson for SOLACE (Society of Local Authority Chief Executives), currently on Health and Social Care.

Professor Erinma Bell MBE is a peace activist recognised for her work tackling gun crime in Moss Side and Longsight. Fourteen years ago Erinma and her husband Raymond witnessed a close friend being gunned down in front of them. Shocked by what they saw, they set up CARISMA (Community Alliance for Renewal, Inner South Manchester Area) to give young people positive alternatives to street and gun crime. At its peak in 2007/2008, gun crime in Greater Manchester reached a total of 146 shootings, many of which occurred in the Moss Side and Longsight areas of southern Manchester.

​CARISMA has now become part of Chrysalis – a family support centre which helps migrant families. Erinma works as part of an inspirational network of community leaders and volunteers active across south Manchester, working towards a socially inclusive community.

​Mum of eight, Erinma, who grew up in Moss Side was honoured in 2017 with a sculpture designed by Manchester-based artist Karen Lyons. The sculpture – a one and a half life-sized bust – is made out of 50 lethal firearms seized by police or surrendered during gun amnesty’s. The weapons, after being made safe, were melted down by Manchester-based artists’ collective ‘Guns to Goods’ and turned into the sculpture. It now takes pride of place inside Manchester town hall’s sculpture hall – the first-ever sculpture of a woman in the building.

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Ngozi Weller is a wellbeing and productivity consultant and an ICF accredited coach who helps build resilience into your business by creating psychologically safe workplaces that enable employees to thrive. Her programmes increase employee engagement, drive productivity, and promote lasting behavioural change.

Having worked for over 15 years in the world of Big Oil, Ngozi has experienced first-hand how challenging the corporate world can be. Following her own battle with work-related depression and anxiety, she set up Aurora with her psychologist cousin Obehi to normalise the conversation around workplace mental health and to provide strategic wellbeing support designed to strengthen your employees’ mental resilience and improve workplace productivity. She is also the co-host of the award-winning podcast ‘The Wellbeing Rebellion’.