The free-to-attend Microlise Transport Conference returns to the Coventry Building Society Arena on 18 March 2025 – and this year, Europe’s largest road transport conference promises to be bigger and better than ever before.
Around 1,200 delegates from the road transport industry will be in attendance. With more than 40 industry-thought leaders and subject matter experts sharing their insights on today‘s – and tomorrow’s – hot topics, attendees can soak up the knowledge that will help shape their future success in the industry.
Hosted by renowned BBC technology reporter Kate Russell, the conference’s speakers, both individually and in panels, will deliver the latest viewpoints on the technology, innovation, compliance, skills and legislation that will help keep transport managers on the front foot of topical matters.
As well as presentations and panel discussions given from the main stage, there will also be four workshop programmes at which attendees can learn how to develop their understanding of skills, compliance, innovation and, in Microlise’s own workshop, technology.
Before the main event and in breaks, there will also be an exhibition hall filled with more than 50 manufacturers, technology solutions providers and services, as well as Microlise’s chosen charity for the event, Transaid, which transforms lives through safe, available and sustainable transport.
Within a two-hour drive for three-quarters of England’s population, the highly accessible conference is recommended by 99% of previous attendees, with testimonials including “It’s a great networking opportunity. Where else do you find 1,000 transport professionals in one place? It just doesn’t happen,” and “As a way of sharing best practice and to get an understanding of what the industry issues are, it’s definitely a conference you should attend.”
So, who will be taking to the stage at the event and what will they be discussing?
SHARING THE SPOTLIGHT
Microlise CEO Nadeem Raza will welcome delegates and introduce the director of network planning – customer, strategy and communications at National Highways, Richard Leonard, who will be examining the role of the strategic road network in connecting UK industry.
Nadeem Raza will also be joined by the global head of cyber risk management at Gallagher, Johnty Mongan, and David Brown, principal security consultant from The NCC Group in a panel discussion on the burgeoning issue of cyber security.
Other topics covered by speakers on the main stage include building sustainable transport ecosystems through energy innovations. Plus, a mock trial delivered by Charlotte Le Maire, founder and partner at LMP Legal, which looks at the legal fallout of ignoring technology.
WORKSHOPS TO AID UNDERSTANDING
As well as presentations and panel discussions on the main stage, one of the exclusive features that sets the Microlise Transport Conference apart is its workshops which begin, for the industry early birds, at 8.30am and continue during the main stage’s lunch break.
With four headline themes, from compliance and skills to innovation and technology, delegates can choose from a number of hot discussion topics to learn more from the experts and ask any burning questions.
The compliance corner will offer insight into how to use telematics data to manage a business’s risk, as well as an examination of the very real issues and challenges that companies face when navigating the complex arena of compliance.
Delivering the workshops will be representatives from the transport solicitor Backhouse Jones, Department for Transport, the National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service, the DVSA and others.
In the skills showcase, delegates can gain a greater understanding of how to map a career as a road transport manager, how the benchmark for competent technicians is being raised across the industry, what the next five years have in store for managers of HGV drivers and how to protect businesses from freight crime.
There will also be a deep dive into the new maintenance provision rating scheme (MPRS). The subject matter experts delivering these workshops are drawn from the Institute of Road Transport Engineers (IRTE), RHA, and the Society of Operations Engineers (SOE), including SOE executive director Emma Thompson, and IRTE chairman Nick Elliott.
Microlise’s technology zone features one of the rising stars of the industry, Charlotte Porter, who works for the conference hosts as a product manager. Charlotte will be delivering her workshop ‘Integrate to Innovate: The Power of Product Integration’ where she will be looking at the tools transport managers need to unify the disparate systems they work with.
By bringing data into one central repository, Porter will explore how businesses can harness this data and optimise their operations. Not only this, but she will also be demonstrating Microlise’s innovative Microlise One solution in the conference’s exhibition hall.
FIND YOUR SOLUTIONS
You will find exhibitors from up and down the country promoting their businesses and organisations at this year’s Microlise Transport Conference.
Volvo Trucks, CoPilot and LMP Legal will all be centre stage, while the Driver Handbook, KeyCafe, RTITB Instructor Academy, Ortec, Axtec, the RHA and SNAP will also be among the exhibitors.
There will also be opportunities to grab a coffee and chat with your fellow road transport professionals about the issues that matter to you. Meet old connections and meet new contacts who can help you do business better.
DRIVER OF THE YEAR
The night before the conference, Microlise will also be hosting the company’s prestigious Driver of the Year Awards. The ceremony, which recognises the drivers who make the UK’s roads a safer place, shines a light on the most dedicated drivers working in the UK road transport industry today.
The young driver, most improved driver, the driver going that extra mile, driver hero and the driver who has achieved most in their lifetime will all be honoured at the black-tie event.
With a judging panel drawn from the RHA, Logistics UK, the Traffic Commissioner for Wales’s office, Microlise and the editor of this very magazine, winners can go about their work safe in the knowledge that the way they do their job has been reviewed, praised and certified as the best in the country by true experts in their field.
There is still time to register for the Microlise Transport Conference 2025. Visit www.microliseconference.com/ and click the Register button in the top-right corner of the page.
This all makes for an unmissable event for your company, your career and your skills in the road transport industry.
