Professor Charles Egbu, Vice-Chancellor at Leeds Trinity University, will be speaking alongside other business leaders, industry experts and politicians at Big Ideas Live: How to fire up UK business and the economy in the wake of the pandemic on Tuesday 12 October from 2.00pm.

Professor Egbu will be participating in a panel discussion chaired by Sky News journalist Trevor Phillips, alongside other senior business figures including Simone Roche MBE, Founder and CEO of Northern Power Women.

The panel event will focus on levelling up in the North of England, the North/South divide and plans for regional growth.

Professor Egbu has been invited to speak from an educational perspective, considering the impact of the pandemic and Brexit on the North, the effect on students and young people in terms of education and employment, and his own reflections from working in both London and Leeds.

He will also reflect on the University’s role in the Leeds City Region and North of England, within its Strategic Plan for 2021-2026, which sets out the University’s intentions and ambitions for the next five years.

Professor Charles Egbu, Vice-Chancellor at Leeds Trinity University, said: “I am delighted to participate in the Sky News Big Ideas Live panel event and join people from across the business and economy sector to discuss how we can focus on regional growth and important issues like employability.

“From a higher education perspective, it is important that we consider the impact of the pandemic and how we can best support students and young people in terms of education and employment.

“This event coincides with the recent launch of the University’s new Strategic Plan for 2021-2026, which includes our work with the Leeds City Region, with a focus on graduate employment and making a positive contribution to the region. I’m very excited to take part.”

Head of Sky News, John Ryley, added: “This is an ambitious next step to take Sky News’ specialists live into communities around the country and examine some very big ideas.

“Our business and economics specialists, and data journalists, are among the best in the business so this first topic was an obvious choice.

“Big Ideas Live will step away from rolling news and instead create a format to break down the important issues of our time, starting with reigniting UK business and the economy.”

Providing a framework for the institution’s growth plans, Leeds Trinity University’s Strategic Plan 2021-2026 is built around the four Strategic Pillars of ‘Education and Experience’, ‘People and Sustainability’, ‘Research, Impact and Innovation’, and ‘Careers and Enterprise’. This is supported by the two key themes of Digital Futures and the Leeds City Region.

Read more on the website.