York & North Yorkshire LEP Annual Conference 2023

Join us online for our 2023 Annual Conference. This year we celebrated the Power of Partnership and everything we can achieve when we work together.

Hear first-hand from organisations and businesses about how our investments are transforming the way they work and delivering impact in local areas.

Meet our guests

Casey Woodward, Founder of Agrisound

Casey Woodward is the CEO and founder of AgriSound, a York-based agritech company focused on using advanced sound analysis for monitoring pollinator activity. Prior to establishing AgriSound, Casey played a key role in supporting the UK agri-tech strategy and worked with startups, corporates and academics from across the UK to provide new innovative solutions for protecting food security. In 2021, Casey was announced as one of the UK’s leading Young Innovators by Innovate UK and has since been named as one of the '42 under 42’ business leaders within the region.

Lizzie Boyes, Local System Planning Engineer at Northern Powergrid

Lizzie is a Chartered Power Engineer, with knowledge and experience of Wind Power Export, HV Transmission and AC and DC Traction Power.

Passionate about facilitating the North Easts transition to Net Zero, she is currently working as a Local System Planning Engineer at Northern Powergrid. This role sees her supporting Local Authorities, Combined Authorities, Housing Associations, Trade Associations and others with their strategic planning for the mass roll out of low carbon technologies.

She has been involved in schemes ranging from risk-based reliability centred maintenance strategy development in the wind power industry, new wind farm developments, traction power studies and transmission network design.

She has a Masters degree in Power Distribution Engineering from Newcastle University and a Bachelors degree in Physics from Bristol University. In 2022 she achieved Chartered Engineer status with the Institute of Engineering and Technology.

Lindsay West, Co-Founder of VISR Dynamics

Lindsay West is an entrepreneur with an impressive career spanning over 35 years in the business world. Currently serving as the Joint Managing Director of Garthwest Packaging and POS Manufacturing, Lindsay has successfully led the company to new heights of innovation and excellence.

Alongside his accomplishments in the packaging industry, Lindsay is also Co-Founder of VISR Dynamics Immersive Technology, a pioneering venture at the forefront of immersive technology solutions. Additionally, he is a Founding Board Member of the Yorkshire and Humber Institute of Technology, where he contributes his expertise to shape the region's educational and technological landscape. Lindsay's most recent endeavour involves founding the Metaverse for Education and Training Open Standards Forum, aiming to establish the United Kingdom’s Open Standards for spatial, immersive, and metaverse technologies. With a steadfast vision, Lindsay West strives to forge a seamless career pathway from education to employment within these transformative fields.