Speakers

Joel Lavery has over 30 years experience working in sport at city, region and national level, specialising in strategy, policy and partnerships. He is a former British taekwondo champion and GB team member and a passionate advocate for the value of sport and its positive impact on people and places. 

Lavery began his professional career working in local government overseeing strategy, policy and performance for leisure, cultural and community services. He joined British Cycling in 2009 to lead the expansion of the award winning Skyride initiative, working with major cities across the UK on the Sky ‘inspiration to participation’ campaign. After British Cycling success in London 2012 and Rio 2016 he took on the role of head of partnerships and major events at British Cycling and was a key architect of the “societal partnership” with HSBC UK. He led their major national and international event strategy with HSBC Lets Ride, Tour of Britain, National Championships and UCI Track and BMX World Cups. 

He is currently strategic lead for major sporting events for the West Midlands Growth Company, responsible for raising the profile and bringing major international sporting events to the region as part of the ground-breaking Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games £24m Business and Tourism Programme (BATP). The overall aim is to boost trade, tourism and investment across the region and UK, working in partnership with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Department for International Trade and Visit Britain.