We kicked off party conference season in 2016 with a dinner with key city Leaders in Liverpool in conjunction with Core Cities, which offered an informal opportunity to discuss the HS2 project, its impact and the future of high speed rail and major infrastructure in the UK, as well as meet with industry leaders and politicians. Andy McDonald MP, Shadow Transport Minister attended the dinner, along with a number of representatives from our member companies.
In Birmingham, we had a presence at New Street Station during Conservative Party Conference, with Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling MP and Andrew Jones MP, Transport Minister for HS2 both attending the exhibition to show support for the project and speak to visitors about the scheme, and the benefits that it will bring to the city of Birmingham, and the wider region. The exhibition provided details on HS2 and high speed rail and included interactive displays from members, with Bechtel bringing along a Lego model of a tunnelling machine, and Alstom providing their model of a HSR train. Laing O’Rourke provided their Oculus Rift virtual reality headset, offering visitors to the stand the opportunity to virtually operate a crane. A drinks reception was also held in Birmingham where Andrew Jones MP, Transport Minister for HS2 and Andrew Cleaves, Principal and Chief Executive, Birmingham Metropolitan College both spoke about the importance of HS2 to the city, the region and the UK as a whole.