The PA Hub Manchester Conference
Friday 15th May 2026 - Manchester Marriott Piccadilly Hotel
A great day at our 17th PA Hub Conference in Manchester.
Six world-class speakers. A carefully designed journey from confidence to collaboration. A room full of business support professionals connecting, learning, and growing together.
OUR SPEAKERS
Marion Lowrence
Conference Host
Founder & Co-Director - The PA Hub
Simone White
Opening Keynote - You Are Enough
Founder: Simplicity
Helen Monument
From Tasks to Influence - The New Global Skills Matrix Explained
Chair, World Administrators Alliance
Alfie Joey
Speak Easy
Speak Easy Guy - Photo Credit to Northern Echo
Aaron Betesta
The Energiser!
Laughtercise Founder
Scott Perry
Finding Your Magic As a PA and Why It’s Important
Director of Innovation & Magic
Nicola S Morgan
Resilience Under Pressure
Multi Award Winning TEDx & Keynote Speaker | Author | Helping Organisations & Companies Lead Under Pressure | Behaviour, Resilience & Difficult Conversations
Our Partners
FULL SPEAKER INFORMATION BELOW
Conference Host
Marion Lowrence
Founder and Co-Director - The PA Hub
Marion will be your conference host for the day.
Marion Lowrence is the visionary founder of The PA Hub and a distinguished figure in the business support profession. Her journey from award-winning Personal Assistant to influential network founder exemplifies the transformative power of professional development and community.
Read moreAward-Winning Professional Career
Marion’s 30-year career in administration and business support saw her excel across multiple sectors, including the Civil Service, NHS, and higher education. As a senior Executive Assistant at Yorkshire Universities, she earned prestigious recognition: Yorkshire PA of the Year (2011) and Pitman Training Super Achievers International PA of the Year (2012). These accolades opened Marion’s eyes to the thriving PA networks in London and revealed a critical gap; Northern professionals deserved equal access to world-class networking and development opportunities.
Building Networks That Matter
Before founding The PA Hub, Marion established the Yorkshire Universities Internal PA Network, bringing together administrative professionals from 12 universities across the region with over 250 members. When demand extended beyond the education sector, Marion recognised the opportunity to create something truly transformative. Together with her business partner and husband Jon Lowrence, she launched The PA Hub, now operating thriving communities in several cities, delivering over 40 events annually including networking meetings, training sessions, conferences, showcases, and the celebrated PA Awards.
International Leadership
Marion’s influence extends far beyond the North of England. She served as Events Director for Executive Support LIVE for 9.5 years, producing international events in London, Johannesburg, Auckland, Wellington, Sydney, Washington DC, Silicon Valley, Atlanta and Seattle. In 2018, she represented the UK as lead delegate at the World Administrative Summit in Frankfurt, continuing her advocacy role through virtual summits in 2020 and 2021. Marion remains a passionate champion for elevating the business support profession globally.
A sought-after speaker and natural networker, Marion has presented to business support professional groups throughout the UK and internationally. Her commitment to both in-person connection and social media engagement has made her a respected voice in the profession, inspiring countless professionals to pursue excellence and recognition in their careers.
OPENING KEYNOTE - You Are Enough
Simone White
Founder: Simplicity
This session begins with two deceptively small words — just and only — and unpacks the enormous weight they quietly place on assistants every day. Through a powerful spoken‑word narrative, the talk invites the audience to recognise how these words shape identity, confidence, and self‑worth, often without us noticing.
Blending storytelling with lived experience, the session explores the subtle ways assistants are diminished, dismissed, or overlooked, and how those moments accumulate into hesitation, self‑doubt, and silence. It speaks directly to anyone who has ever advocated fiercely for others yet struggled to speak up for themselves.
This is not a session about limitation — it’s about liberation. It guides attendees toward a transformative realisation: that their value has never been defined by hierarchy, job title, or the assumptions of others.
This is an empowering, reflective, and deeply human experience that challenges internal narratives and replaces them with truth.
You are not just.
You are not only.
You are enough — and this session shows you why.
Learning Outcomes
- Reflection is key to overcoming self-doubt
- You are not defined by others. Create and drive your own narrative
- Your past impacts your present, but it does not have to derail your future.
- Knowledge drives confidence. Confidence drives change.
- Purpose is powerful
About Simone
Simone is a multi-award-winning network, inclusion and administration specialist who works to increase the impact of under-represented groups by creating and advocating for equitable opportunities for visibility and growth.
Having experienced various hurdles on her own personal and career journey, she pushes the boundaries of inclusion and shines a light on the need for more awareness of intersectionality beyond the visible, which can often be overlooked in DEI discussions.
With over two decades of administrative experience, Simone founded a global network at the world’s largest asset manager, leading transformative change for over 700 administrative professionals.
She focuses on encouraging individuals to understand their motivations, find their passions and lean into their power by adjusting their mindsets and environments. She works with organisations to increase their awareness, examine their cultures and create safe spaces for discussion and action.
From Tasks to Influence - The New Global Skills Matrix Explained
Helen Monument
Chair, World Administrators Alliance
What happens when you ask thousands of administrative professionals across the globe about their skills, challenges, and future needs? You uncover patterns and powerful insights.
The administrative profession is evolving faster than ever, yet perceptions, role definitions, and development pathways often lag behind reality. The updated Global Skills Matrix© captures this shift, reflecting how assistants everywhere are moving from task-driven support to strategic partnership and leadership.
The updated Global Skills Matrix© from the World Administrators Alliance is more than a framework; it’s a reflection of a profession in motion. In this session, we’ll unpack what the latest data reveals about how administrative roles are changing, which skills are becoming critical, and where the biggest development gaps lie.
We’ll explore why those changes matter, and how the Matrix can be used as a practical career development tool, whether you’re an assistant, a leader, or an organisation investing in talent.
This is not about adding more to already full roles. It’s about clarity, confidence, and conscious career choices, giving the profession a shared language for skills, growth, and value.
This session will give you language, structure, and inspiration to elevate conversations about your skills and value.
Learning Outcomes
- Understand what’s new in the Global Skills Matrix, and what it tells us about the future of the profession
- Recognise how skills evolve across career stages, beyond job titles
- Understand why leadership and strategic capability are increasingly essential
- Learn how the Matrix can support career conversations, development planning, and succession
About Helen
Helen Monument inspires and encourages Assistants to be the best they can be, by sharing her four decades of experience as a leading management support professional. Helen has worked at international companies in diverse roles, growing from Receptionist to Secretary to Office Manager and Business Support Team Leader, so she understands the profession inside out.
At her company Monumental Assistance Helen provides training and coaching to Assistants at all levels. She is passionate about giving back to the profession that provided so many wonderful opportunities for her to grow and develop by ‘paying it forward’ all over the world by helping others to become Monumental Assistants.
As the Chair of the World Administrators Alliance, Helen leads this not for profit association that represents Administrative Associations, Networks and industry stakeholders across the globe. Its aims are to guide, develop, influence and elevate the administrative profession, creating a global community where administrative professionals everywhere can speak with one voice. The WA-Alliance produced the Global Skills Matrix, the award-winning, career development framework based on research from over 3000 administrative professionals in 61 countries. Helen is also a former Executive Chair of IMA – International Management Assistants.
Speak Easy
Alfie Joey
Speak Easy Guy
What could happen to you or your company if your next speaking opportunity was unforgettable?
In the age of the podcast & the panel, the Zoom boom & the reels revolution, you have a golden opportunity to tell your story but will it be unforgettable? Improving your communication skills will change your business, your charity, your sales, your marketing & your own self confidence! Alfie unlocks these secrets.
Learning Outcomes
- How to deal with nerves and imposter syndrome.
- How to make an unforgettable impact as a speaker.
- Simple but actionable story telling techniques.
Photo Credit to Northern Echo
Read moreAbout Alfie
A speaking expert, Alfie Joey has a background like no other keynote speaker.
Alfie’s keynote on the power of public speaking and what it can do for you and your company, is electrifying audiences everywhere and he will be a sure fire highlight of your conference or event. He is a master story teller, drawing on a unique background as a BBC presenter, a BGT impressionist, Ted X speaker, artist, actor & former trainee priest.
The Energiser!
Aaron Betesta
Laughtercise Founder
This session will be like no other team building session you’ve ever experienced. Loved by Amazon, AstraZenaca, Specsavers and the NHS, a Laughtercise session will leave you feeling rejuvenated and energised. It will connect you with everyone around you in a unique and wild way.
Learning Outcomes
- The importance of having joy in your life
- The importance of connecting with people outside of normal patterns and
- Fun; just fun!
About Aaron
Father to two boys. Husband to a beautiful wife. Lover of crisps. Founder of Laughtercise.
Aaron is a ⚡Facilitator of Fun⚡in business life and in family life.
Aaron runs the day to day of Laughtercise. Which is a bundle of fun.
Aaron won awards for his work in internal comms and retail management, which were great transferable skills to running a business. And also won world titles in his youth playing pool, which were non-transferable skills unfortunately.
Loves to listen to a good story. Loves to talk about the benefits of yogic sleep, cold showers and brutal gym workouts.
Finding Your Magic As a PA and Why It’s Important
Scott Perry
Director of Innovation & Magic
In this session Scott will discuss some of the historical uses of ‘magic’, why ‘magic’ is crucial in modern society and how to tap in to your very own magic as a PA.
He won’t teach you how to complete your tasks with a wave of a wand, but he will leave you with a greater understanding of how and why ‘magic’ is so important.
You’ll like it. Not a lot, but you’ll like it.
Learning Outcomes
- Overcoming the illusion of obstacles
- Navigating stress and anxiety
- Implementing processes and procedures
- Becoming ‘magic’
About Scott
Scott Perry, also known as the “UK’s Bad Boy of Magic” has a truly unique story. From uneducated school drop-out to magician to the Kind of England, who has also appeared on the front cover of luxury magazines and consulted for music videos and TV.
Scott also has experience applying his expertise in ‘magic’ to marketing campaigns, product launches and other brand content. Not to mention his work in the health sector with world leading neuroscientists on the use case of magic as a means of therapy and tool for driving high performance.
Now the worlds first Director of Innovation & Magic, Scott Perry is exemplary in his field.
Resilience Under Pressure
Nicola S Morgan
Multi Award Winning TEDx & Keynote Speaker | Author | Helping Organisations & Companies Lead Under Pressure | Behaviour, Resilience & Difficult Conversations
Nicola explores what resilience really looks like when life gets difficult when the pressure rises, the workload becomes relentless and that voice in your head starts whispering, “You can’t do this.”
Because resilience is not built in perfect moments. It is built in the struggle. In the difficult conversations. In the setbacks. In the moments when plans fall apart and we are forced to choose whether we wobble or rise like warriors.
Through honest storytelling, practical strategies and thought-provoking reflection, Nicola challenges the idea that resilience means simply coping or staying positive. Instead, she reveals that true resilience is messy, imperfect and deeply personal.
This keynote is not about perfection. It is about learning how to keep going when things feel hard, how to perform under pressure without losing yourself and how to turn setbacks into strength.
Learning Outcomes
- Learn how to shift your mindset from seeing setbacks as personal failure to viewing them as opportunities for growth, learning and forward momentum.
- Understand how to respond positively to pressure, setbacks and difficult situations so you can stay calm, adaptable and confident when life and work become demanding.
- Discover how to stay focused on what matters, adapt when the old way no longer works and build personal resilience habits that support long-term wellbeing and performance.
About Nicola
Nicola S. Morgan helps organisations and companies turn chaos into calm and emotional strain into sustainable strength. A multi award-winning TEDx and keynote speaker, international consultant and author, Nicola equips leaders and teams to perform under pressure, communicate under stress, and bring out the best in others when emotions run high.
With over 28 years’ experience, she delivers practical, high-impact tools that work in real life: during conflict, complaints, high-stakes meetings, tense team dynamics, and challenging conversations. Nicola doesn’t just motivate a room, she gives people strategies they can use immediately, long after the applause.
She is the Founder and CEO of NSM Training & Consultancy and the National Education Show. Nicola is a Certified NLP Master Practitioner, Resilient Leaders Elements Consultant, and International Values-Based Education Consultant.
THE VENUE - Marriott Manchester Piccadilly Hotel
Positioned just a stone’s throw away from Piccadilly Train Station, Manchester Marriott Piccadilly proudly emerges as the city’s leading 4-star destination following a significant multi-million-pound investment and is one of the premier hotels in Manchester with parking.
Immerse yourself in one of 338 newly refurbished spacious bedrooms & suites, featuring modern amenities and contemporary design. Elevate your meetings with state-of-the-art conference facilities and Hybrid meeting capabilities. Indulge at our luxurious spa and embrace evenings filled with excitement in the vibrant Northern Quarter. With unparalleled access to premier shopping, nightlife, and global business hubs, each moment is ripe with opportunity.
Our iconic silhouette graces the skyline from Piccadilly Station to the Mancunian Way. Seamlessly connecting you to other cities across the UK and Manchester Airport, we are an ideal choice among Manchester city centre hotels for both business and leisure travellers.
TESTIMONIALS
See what previous attendees said about our 2025 conference in Liverpool:
5* day from start to finish, lots of great takeaways and actions. Amazing value- Thank you!
EA, Retail Sector, Liverpool Hub
The PA Hub always provide a phenomenal speaker line up with real relevance to the Assistant profession. It's my number one go to conference of choice and great to have such calibre of speakers in the North of England.
EA to MD, Hospitality Sector, Leeds Hub
The conference was excellent - I left feeling inspired, empowered and ready to take on the world!
PA, Education Sector, Liverpool Hub
The sessions were insightful and inspiring, offering practical takeaways that reflect the evolving and strategic nature of the PA role.
PA, Education Sector, Newcastle Hub
Wow. What a fabulous conference. Lovely, friendly, inclusive delegates. Superb, relevant speakers.
PA, Higher Education, Sheffield
Having been fortunate enough to experience several of these events over the years, I’m always amazed by the outstanding quality of the speakers. Every time, I leave feeling refreshed, inspired, and energized.
EA to CEO, Banking Sector, Leeds Hub
This was my first time going to the PA conference. I have only recently taken on the role of PA and have been feeling a little unsure and out of my depth. This conference made me realise how wonderful and varied the job is and that you can use your strengths to your advantage. I came away feeling so much happier about my future career!
PA, Healthcare Sector, Liverpool Hub
Attending the PA Hub Conference was an incredibly inspiring and energising experience. The sessions were packed with practical insights, and it was great to connect with like-minded professionals who truly understand the challenges and rewards of the PA role. I came away with new tools, fresh ideas, and a renewed sense of confidence in my work.
PA to MD, Construction Sector, Manchester Hub
It's brilliant to get out of the office and be with a group of likeminded people. The speakers are were great and I always leave with a few things to take away and implement in my work life. I came away with a buzz and spent the 2 hour drive home thinking of how I could implement what I had learned. I'm looking forward to next year's conference in Manchester already. The date is in the diary! Thank you Marion and Jon.
PA, Education Sector, Leeds Hub
Amazing conference, very inspiring - a must for every PA/Exec Assistant!
EA, Manufacturing Food Sector, Leeds Hub
If ever there was an event to uplift and inspire you, this is the one! A fun-packed day from start to finish with amazing, impactful guest speakers. Love this conference, made some great friends and will be back next year for sure! Well done PA Hub!
EA, Education Sector, Newcastle Hub
The PA Hub Conference is an invaluable day in any assistant's calendar. I left feeling inspired and more equipped to perform at the highest level in my role. I fully recommend to anyone who is an assistant at any level.
EA, Hospitality Sector, Leeds Hub