Dr Marie Macklin CBE Keynote Speaker

• Regeneration/ Sustainability

As founder and Executive Chair at HALO Urban Regeneration Ltd. Marie has achieved international interest and acclaim for the sustainable focus of the HALO Enterprise and Innovation Centre, (HEIC) Kilmarnock. As a test bed 28-acre site for emerging green tech and one of the most sustainable buildings in the UK, the award-winning site is 7 years ahead of the Paris 2015 Climate Agreement target and provides visitors and guests with a suite of sustainable and innovative infrastructure from EV Charging to Platinum WiredScore Wi-Fi. The only platinum site in Scotland. In its short life the building has been: BCO UK Corporate Workplace of the Year 2022, Finalist in the 'Commercial, Industrial, Infrastructure & Retail' category of the Glasgow Institute of Architects (GIA) Design Awards 2021, Scotland's Regeneration Project of the Year 2022 at the Scottish Property Awards 2022, Featured in RIBA, (Royal Institute of British Architecture) "Reworking the Workplace." Book publication 2023. The HALO Enterprise and Innovation Centre is at the forefront of sustainability: Powered By 60000Kilowatt Solar panels 175 in total, 50-Kilowatt battery Storage, EV Bus, Cars and Bikes Hub, Test bed site for Iberdrola and Scottish Power, Net Zero Green Accelerator for Green SME Businesses. Through her speaking engagementts, Marie talks about many communities she's worked with during her multi-site, town and city regeneration work and how it's about bringing hope, aspiration and opportunity to the former industrial heartlands of our country.

• Business/ Entrepreneurship the journey

With a history and a catalogue of business experience from large corporates to family businesses, Marie has a wealth of business acumen through experience, hard work, tenacity and a passion to make a difference for clients and communities. Born and raised in Kilmarnock, an industrial town in Scotland, Marie has built a successful business empire and reputation through an intrinsic determination propelled by her community values and by leading from the heart. Marie shares the highs and lows of the business world and her secrets to making it a success and bringing people with you.

• Education

Educated in Kilmarnock, Scotland and raised in the county of East Ayrshire, Marie has always supported schools and further education establishments across Scotland. Diagnosed with Dyslexia in her 30s, Marie shares openly her struggles at school and talks about how music was her safe place, her 'poetry' that provided both hope and aspiration during her adolescence. As a champion of young people, Marie actively engages with school and keeps abreast of national policy to ensure enterprise is set within curriculum activities and where possible, shares her entrepreneurial story to help inspire future generations to overcome barriers, grasp opportunities and to believe in themselves.

• Health

Marie is the founding ambassador of #TALKEndo, ENDO1000 a U.K. women's health campaign to raise awareness of endometriosis. ENDO1000 is a UK-wide research project that will collect data from 1000 individuals with known or suspected endometriosis. The resulting resource will allow research into the development of personalised care for people with endometriosis transforming the lives of millions. Although U.K wide, the pioneering research will be led from the University of Edinburgh. Their mission is to reduce diagnostic delay and develop personalised treatment approaches for individuals with endometriosis by studying data and biological samples collected from patients over an extended period. Marie, (who is a historical endometriosis sufferer) recently funded a strategic report to support the great work being delivered by Professor Andrew Horne and the ENDO 1000 project team and to assist fellow women who have or have yet to be diagnosed with the Endometriosis. Under the lead ambassador role, Marie has delivered multiple TV, radio and press activity to raise the profile and awareness of the campaign. Marie has shared the impact the condition had on her own journey and is an advocate for more support in research on treatment and a cure to allow women to live a better quality of life without the endometriosis impacts from a personal and professional standpoint. Marie also shines a light in this from a business/economic perspective with many women having to give up work as the stats indicate... Endometriosis can end women's careers, Women who had surgery for endometriosis were 85% more likely to be unemployed 3 years post-diagnosis, 63% of full-time working women surveyed who had endometriosis surgery fell to 44% , 89% of women with endometriosis surveyed noted a loss in productivity at work, Up to one third of women with endometriosis suffer from infertility.