Lodestone Communications

And that’s a wrap! 🎉   We are excited to share that the University of Nottingham Institute for Policy and Engagement’s report on delivering a just energy transition was successfully launched in Parliament last week.   The report sets out recommendations across six key areas with policy proposals to support a fair transition to a low-carbon energy economy 🌍   Thank you to all those who joined us, including the Minister for Climate, Kerry McCarthy - Labour MP for Bristol East and to our speakers: Lord Tom Watson of Wyre Forest, Professor of Architecture and Built Environment, Lucelia Rodrigues and Chair of the Energy and Net Zero Select Committee, Bill Esterson MP.   A big thank you to the witnesses and commissioners, your valuable insights were integral to the report.  

It was great to attend techUK’s event last week on Jobs, Automation & the Robotics Revolution, exploring how to build adaptable, future ready workforces, embrace change, help organisations develop personalised programmes aligning with their natural strengths, and make manufacturing ‘cool.’ ⚙️ The panel explored robots as tools for workers, companies, and society. One key insight: they say if you do a job you love, you’ll never work a day in your life. The ambition for automation is to support business to adopt technology so more people in the workforce have the opportunity to do a job they love, rather than something ‘dull, dirty, or dangerous.’ 🤖 🦾 Many thanks to the insightful speakers: •⁠ ⁠Peter Williamson CDir, CEO, Automate UK •⁠ ⁠Kester Brewin, Associate Director, Institute for the Future of Work •⁠ ⁠Kady Marriott, Associate Director, WithYouWithMe •⁠ ⁠Dr Susanne Bieller, General Secretary, International Federation of Robotics •⁠Umang Patel, Enterprise Automation - Consulting Leader (UKI, EMEA), Cognizant

Autumn Budget 💼 In this afternoon's budget, there were no rabbits pulled from the Chancellor’s hat, no headline secret giveaways kept from the media to be revealed in the Chancellor’s time of need. There were, instead, a flurry of the lines we’ve grown accustomed to hearing from Labour frontbenchers in the last four months – these are ‘tough decisions’ being made today for the benefit of tomorrow; the reality of the situation the Government find themselves in is a direct result of the ‘blackhole’ left in the UK’s finances by the Conservative Government; and the tax hikes detailed in the Budget are the only way to protect ‘workers’ pay slips’. Details and analysis of the budget below ⤵️ 

We’re proud to be giving pro-bono political and media support to the campaign – alongside Andy Green FRSA Modern Cockney (below) who are the geniuses behind it – to get pie’n’mash recognised and protected through granting it Traditional Speciality Guaranteed status.   Huge thanks to Rt. Hon Richard Holden MP for everything he’s done to give it such a boost this week, including leading the first ever debate on pie’n’mash in the House (and thanks also for the Lodestone name check). 💁♀️   It’s been fantastic to see the massive levels of media pick-up, both nationally and in those areas with pie’n’mash shops, and across print, broadcast TV and radio, and socials – demonstrating what a great cause (and story) it is! 📺   And, it’s hitting home in the shops themselves – Lodestone Director and our resident pie’n’mash lover Ben Russell went to M Manze’s on Tower Bridge Road the day after the debate and found the servers gathered round a phone watching themselves on Sky News from that morning. They were also spreading the word, telling all the customers that came in about the campaign! 📣   Rare to see word of mouth in action and fantastic to see the buzz it’s created in the pie’n’mash community ✊   For more information on Modern Cockney, please see below ⤵️   We’re also encouraging everyone to get their MPs to sign the Early Day Motion as well- find a link in the comments.

It was fantastic to attend Tania Duarte’s workshop on AI Hype at #BirminghamTechWeek2024 this week, asking the tough questions: 🌐 What really drives AI ‘hype’? 🌐 How do current visual representations of AI hinder understanding of real tech development? How does anthropomorphism contribute to this? 🌐 Are there opportunities to address societal biases reflected in AI models? 🌐 How can the AI ‘arms race’ be addressed to allow small, independent companies to flourish? Our favourite anecdote of the day – “Imagine if, instead of saying our ‘car’ or ‘trolley’ or ‘bicycle’ or ‘lorry,’ we just said ‘vehicle.’ Think about how confusing that would be. That is what we are doing when we say ‘AI.’ Is it a Skoda, or a tank?” 🚗

As the secretariat for PICTFOR - the APPG for tech, we are delighted to be back up and running again, following the Inaugural General Meeting yesterday. Congrats to the Co-Chairs, Dame Caroline Dinenage MP DBE and Samantha Niblett MP and Officers Baroness Neville-Rolfe and Lord Tim Clement-Jones. We look forward to an exciting programme of events for the rest of 2024 and 2025! 🌐 If you’d like to find out more about getting involved you can contact Fran O'Leary, Josephine Dalton, Orlando Wind-Cowie, Niamh McGurk, Kate Troiano or Ella Dunham 👋🏼

#PRWeek: Public Affairs Award 2024 📣🏆🥳 We’re bouncing off the walls to say Lodestone has won the Public Affairs category at the #PRWeekAwards 2024 for our work on the #Investher campaign overturning legislation that would have disproportionately harmed female founders and investors! 📈 Thank you thank you to all involved especially Samantha Niblett MP, Emma Wright, Mary Portas, Grace Beverley, Deborah Meaden, Dame Caroline Dinenage MP DBE, Rt Hon Caroline Nokes MP, The Power Collective, and so many others! 🙏 And a huge thank you to our team, Martha Dalton, Josephine Dalton, Harriet Kaye, Niamh McGurk, Kate Troiano, Charlotte Dignam 🍾 ✊ Our work advocating for women in business through #investher is not done yet – to get involved email info@lodestonecommunications.com

🎉 Client Celebration 🎉 It’s great to see X-energy UK collaboration with Amazon working to bring 5 gigawatts of new power projects online across the US as well as being part of an investment of $500 million to support X-energy’s technology. Investments like this support X-energy’s work in the UK too, where, following backing from Department for Energy Security and Net Zero Future Nuclear Enabling Fund, X-energy hope to secure their first Xe-100 project in Hartlepool and build a 12-pack of reactors. We are proud to work with X-energy, supporting their work towards a clean energy revolution. #NuclearEnergy #Xenergy #Amazon

Yesterday, Lodestone Co-Founder & CSO and Interparliamentary Forum on Emerging Technologies Co-Founder Fran O'Leary O’Leary spoke alongside Emma Wright at Harbottle & Lewis’ AI Breakfast.    She covered off the latest developments in international AI and broader tech regulation, including:   📑 Labour Party manifesto commitments   📊 10 key developments on AI and tech during Labour's first 100 days: 1. The political context; 2. the King's Speech; 3. the AI Opportunities Action Plan; 4. the latest steers on AI legislation and an AI strategy; 5. Private Members Bills that may influence Government thinking; 6. Peter Kyle's vision; 7. the Regulatory Innovation Office; 8. the Digital Centre Panel; 9. plans to make the sharing of intimate images without consent to be made a priority offence under the Online Safety Act; and 10. actions on Cyber Security.   → A forward look, with 10 developments to look out for: 1. the autumn Budget; 2. the publication of the #AIOpportunitiesActionPlan; 3. the #AISafetyInstitute hosting a conference with developers ahead of the AI Action Summit; 4. the announcement of the Chair of the #RegulatoryInnovationOffice; 5. the introduction of the #Cyber-Security and Resilience Action Bill in early 2025; 6. the introduction of the Digital Information and Smart Data Bill; 7. the progress of the Employment Rights Bill; 8. the Planning and Infrastructure Bill and implications for datacentres; 9. the Skills England Bill; 10. the Industrial Strategy and the potential for other developments. Well done on such an insightful event to all involved in the debate and discussions afterwards including Anna Thomas MBE, Suki Fuller, James Aylett, Victoria Collett, Richard Grove, Bryan Turner, Dr Sally Leivesley, Sophie de Schwarzburg-Gunther, Irene Manautou, Shraddha Kaul, Laura Wright, Chris Francis, Ella Dunham and many others. And thanks to Dea Dragashi andJessica Young for supporting this event. 👏   If you’d like to learn more about the forces shaping the UK’s AI agenda, and how your organisation can play its part, get in touch at info@lodestonecommunications.com.

What are the political viewpoints and ideologies defining the UK’s drive to net zero?    Last week, Lodestone’s Managing Director for Corporate and Reputation Max Wind-Cowie spoke as part of a panel discussing the Labour Government’s green energy plans.    The event covered topics including the ideological clashes at the heart of Whitehall over our approach to net zero, the feasibility of the UK’s net zero targets, and how the private sector can interact and align with the Government in achieving their sustainability goals.    A huge thanks to Hanson Recruitment Ltd and Jonathan Goldsmith for hosting us, and to the wonderful Dr Rebecca Heaton at Robertsbridge and Cognito’s Charlie Morrow for their insights.   If you’d like to learn more about the forces shaping the UK’s net zero agenda, and how your organisation can play its part, get in touch at info@lodestonecommunications.com