Leadership Speakers

Rt Hon Lord (Andrew) Adonis

As Transport Secretary, Schools Minister and Head of the No.10 Policy Unit, Andrew has been an architect of public service reforms from academies to policing. He also prepared the plan for HS2, before leading a review of regional growth strategies. As Chair of the new commission, he is now assessing the UK’s future infrastructure needs. In presentations Andrew looks at change management and policy implementation in complex organisations – and difficult conditions.

Eniola Aluko

The former Juventus, England and Chelsea striker was a natural goalscorer and a leading talent in the women’s game. She won Super League and Serie A titles as well as FA Cups, and played over 100 internationals. She served as Aston Villa Women's sporting director. Off the pitch she’s a lawyer, having qualified in the US and worked in the City. She's a regular pundit and commentator on both the men's and women's game, becoming the first woman pundit on Match of the Day. She hit the headlines with her stand against the discrimination, outdated behaviou...

Christine Armstrong

Communications and management expert, and acclaimed author, Christine considers what modern, values-driven, inclusive organisations should look like and how they should operate. Touching on work-life balance, workplace culture, 'hybrid work',  management and mental health, she examines the new challenges to old ways of doing business. From remote working to diversity strategies, she points out the misleading assumptions and dares organisations to think differently about what they do, how and where they do it. She was named sixth out of the top fifty Future of Work influ...

Ed Balls

Noted as one of the leading economic voices in the Labour governments of the 1990s and 2000s, Ed was a key architect of policies from the independence of the Bank of England to the minimum wage. Having left frontline politics his new life has encompassed academia in the US and UK, presenting documentaries, analysing the big stories alongside George Osborne on Political Currency, and, of course, a celebrated turn on Strictly Come Dancing.

Jose Manuel Barroso

As President of the EU’s executive and legislative branch, José Manuel dealt with the expansion of the Union, the fallout from the financial crisis, and closer integration of member states. He is also a critic of all sides in the Brexit debate and believes the EU could have done more to avoid it.

Dame Inga Beale

After working in senior global leadership roles in some of the world’s largest insurance companies, Inga took over the helm of the 330-year-old City financial institution. Taking on many of the traditions that had held the organisation back, Inga expanded their global markets, and introduced strategies including the Lloyd’s Innovation Lab, and the Dive In Festival, an industry-wide, international diversity and inclusion event. She considers the balance struck between history and modernisation when implementing change, the vital importance of inclusion in the workplace, and co...

Cally Beaton

After joining the board of ITV, setting up her own company and serving as SVP in charge of International Sales at media giant Viacom, Cally has also started a parallel career in comedy. She brings humour and energy to workplace insights ranging from how to foster a creative, positive environment to how to inspire and lead through change.

Carl Bildt

Once UN High Representative in Bosnia, Bildt challenges Europe and the US to find a common vision to meet the threat to world order. Now that we are endangered by weak states and shadowy structures, how can we prevent a clash between fundamentalists and reformers within a civilisation becoming one between civilisations?

Rt Hon Lord (David) Blunkett

As Home Secretary David was in charge of security, immigration and policing. He is now Chairman of a multi-Academy Trust and an advisor to easyJet. As well as sharing insights on cyber-crime and crisis management, David considers how leaders can best engage with the public and counter the widespread sense of grievance. He argues for business to take a lead: “You are a part of our communities, not just employers of people with certain skills.” After dinner he takes a lighter look at a life in politics - both highs and lows – from The Queen offering to cut up his meal, to...

I. Stephanie Boyce

I. Stephanie is a solicitor and the Former President of the Law Society of England and Wales. She became the 177th president of the society and the first person of colour to be appointed to the role. She has been on the Power List of 100 Most Influential Black People, the Governance Hot 100, and was awarded the Burberry British Diversity Awards-Inspirational Role Model of the Year.

Baroness (Karren) Brady

Karren ran the business side of Birmingham City FC through promotion, relegation – and brain surgery. Karren’s mantra for leaders growing any enterprise can be summed up in 5 tips: work hard (be persistent); use every opportunity to network (spread your message); move on (failure is history); don’t get side-tracked, and do your sums.

Dr Elisabeth Carter

Criminologist and forensic linguist Elisabeth examines how interactional, ethical, and social drivers are manipulated by fraudsters, and reveals the intricate balancing act between power and persuasion, credibility, and vulnerability. 

Dr Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic

Tomas uses science and tech to help organisations predict human performance. He creates tools that help organisations predict human performance and improve the ability for people to understand themselves better.

Rt Hon Sir Nick Clegg

Nick rode a wave of popular support to become the first Liberal Democrat to achieve high office, serving as Deputy Prime Minister in the Conservative-led coalition government. After serving in the cabinet he departed politics for the private sector, moving to Silicon Valley and taking a key role at Facebook, later Meta, as its VP of Global Affairs and Communications.

Rt Hon Lord (Sebastian) Coe

On the track Seb’s talent and commitment earned eleven world records and two Olympic gold medals; he has since led the most successful Games in recent history. After serving as one of many Vice Presidents, Seb is tasked with turning around World Athletics and restoring the reputation of international athletics, in the gaze of the world’s media. In speeches he shares the lessons as an athlete and as a leader delivering a vision, managing crisis and bringing about change.

Bernie Collins

With over a decade’s experience at the forefront of Formula 1 Bernie was Head of Race Strategy for the Aston Martin Formula 1 team and is an accomplished strategy engineer. She has held senior strategy and performance engineering roles and played a central role in the teams she has worked for.

David Coulthard

Following Ayrton Senna’s death at Imola, David was promoted from test driver to the race team – where he sat alongside Damon Hill. With 13 Grand Prix wins and over 60 podium finishes during his career he became Britain’s highest point-scorer in the sport. Now a member of the Channel 4 commentary team, David talks first hand about how to succeed in a high performance and unremittingly high pressure environment. He also explains how F1 teams rely on the drivers, technicians, engineers and sponsors all working together, and the motivation and leadership skills required to succeed in this...

Pippa Crerar

An award-winning journalist who has covered Westminster and international politics for more than two decades, Pippa also exposed the election betting, Partygate and Barnard Castle scandals. She co-hosts ITV's flagship political debate programme, and is Political Editor of The Guardian, before which she was Political Editor of the Daily Mirror, and City Hall Editor at the Evening Standard.

Matt Dawson

Possibly the best scrum half in the world, Matt’s performance in the World Cup-winning England rugby team, and especially his pass that led to the winning kick, earned enormous respect within the sport. A former England captain, Matt is a proven leader and a natural team player and he combines his playing experience with his more recent business lessons to consider the nature of teams, leadership and performance culture. He’s also an accomplished presenter of conferences and awards.

Alex Depledge

Leaving her job at Accenture for the uncertainty of a startup, Alex and her friend Jules started helping.com (formerly hassle.com). The pair got through the challenges, the mistakes, and the lack of investment to build a company that sold for over £20million. They’ve repeated the process with Resi, a disruptive architecture and planning business that is now a market-leader. Alex looks at the lessons she's learned, from startup mindsets to the future of the workplace, the pressures on leaders to balancing culture and growth (including a dramatic increase in Resi's...

Mo Gawdat

As Chief Business Officer for Google X, the search giant’s much-envied R&D division, Mo led some of the tech world’s most innovative projects. It was the climax of a successful career in technology but whilst on paper he was doing well, he often felt unfulfilled. He applied his engineering skills to the problem and after almost a decade developed a model which placed happiness in overall context of the experiences and expectations of life. His work became the international bestseller, Solve for Happy: Engineer Your Path to Joy.

Bob Geldof

Bob has inspired hundreds of projects across Africa and ensures it remains on the political agenda and in the public consciousness. In a rousing speech on social responsibility, Bob reminds us that we are all defined by what we do, not what we say. This isn’t confined to philanthropy. He might also confess to some pride at the thought of becoming the first Irishman (and the first genuine rock star) in space.