S&B Activate, our annual legal conference for business leaders and in-house lawyers will be hosted at our Guildford office on 11 November 2025.
S&B Activate isn’t just another legal seminar – we promise legal insight you can act on.
Some legal events can leave you with more questions than answers. S&B Activate is different. We cut through the technicalities and focus on what matters, so you leave knowing not just what’s changed in law, but how to move your business forward.
Expect bite-sized updates, lively discussion and an energising client panel on a range of pressing topics, including:
- The evolving role of AI in legal and business teams (panel discussion)
- Sweeping employment rights bill changes and its likely impact on your business
- Failure to prevent fraud and ID verification (ECCTA)
- What challenging times, including tariffs, sanctions and conflicts, mean for contracts, disputes and insolvency law
- Recent changes and an increasingly hostile immigration regime: what this means for your business
- Proactive changes under the Data (Use and Access) Act
What you’ll gain:
- Clarity on the pressing legal updates you need to know about
- Actionable insight from pragmatic legal experts
- Connections with peers negotiating the same real-world decisions
Register your interest here.
See the full agenda below:
S&B Activate 2025 – Agenda
Legal insight you can act on.
08:30 – 9:30 Registration and breakfast
09:30 – 09:40 Welcome
What makes S&B Activate different, and how to get the most from the day.
Speaker: Beverley Flynn, Partner and Head of Commercial and Technology
09:40 – 10:30 The big picture: Managing risk in a volatile world
A strategic look at how global forces are reshaping contracts, disputes and risk, and how business leaders can respond.
Key themes:
- Contracts: navigating tariffs, sanctions, material adverse change (MAC) clauses and frustration risks in a shifting global landscape.
- Disputes: understanding the impact of proposed changes to the Arbitration Act, managing legal challenges around integration of technology, and adopting strategies to minimise the risk of disputes.
- Restructuring and Insolvency: identifying when you can terminate for counterparty insolvency and how to structure contractual provisions to protect against the impact of insolvency.
Speakers: Gustaf Duhs, Partner and Head of Competition & Regulatory, Sophie Ashcroft, Partner (commercial litigation), Lucy Trott, Managing Associate (restructuring & insolvency), Jeremy Kelly, Senior Associate (competition & regulatory)
10:30 – 11:05 Coffee and networking
11:05 – 12:15 Rapid-fire legal updates: The changes you need to know about and what to do next
A fast-paced series of actionable updates on key legal changes shaping 2026 – and what you can do about them.
Topics include:
- People-Related Challenges and Change
- Sweeping Employment Rights Bill reforms — recent amendments and steps your business should take now to ensure compliance.
- 2025 immigration changes — practical tips to protect your business in an increasingly restrictive regime.
- Failure to Prevent Fraud & ID Verification
- New ID verification requirements for directors and PSCs under ECCTA — key dates and implementation advice.
- The “failure to prevent fraud” offence (in force from 1 September 2025) — reasonable prevention measures to protect against liability.
- GDPR in Transition: Strategic Compliance
- Responding to the new Data (Use and Access) Act — how legal teams can adapt proactively.
- Key insights from recent guidance and case law shaping data protection strategy for 2026.
Speakers: Beverley Flynn, Partner and Head of Commercial and Technology, Kerry Garcia, Partner and Head of Employment, Pensions & Immigration, Hannah Ford, Partner (employment), James Evison, Partner (commercial litigation), Lucy Barnes, Legal CoSec Head (corporate) and Guy Cartwright, Managing Associate (commercial)
12:15 – 12:55 Panel discussion: empowering in-house lawyers in the age of AI
Real perspectives on how organisations are responding to AI regulation and opportunity.
Expect:
- Contracting for AI: key topics in AI procurement
- AI and recruitment: managing discrimination and bias risk
- AI and data protection: navigating compliance challenges
- Insight and experience from guest GCs on how in-house teams are adapting to AI opportunities and regulation.
Moderator: Charlie Maurice, Partner and Head of Technology
Panellists: Beverley Flynn, Partner and Head of Commercial and Technology, Hannah Ford, Partner (employment) plus guest General Counsel
12:55 – 13:00 Closing remarks
A final reflection on the day’s insights and what’s next for your organisation.
Speaker: Beverley Flynn, Partner and Head of Commercial and Technology
13:00 Lunch and networking
Continue the conversation over lunch with speakers, panellists and fellow delegates.
Throughout the morning
Interactive tools will be used to capture audience perspectives and shape the insights we share after the event.
Follow-up content and key takeaways will be shared post-event — join the conversation online using #SBActivate2025.