Presenters & Awards Hosts

Sikisa

The Barbadian stand-up won the public vote at the BBC New Comedy Awards. She’s now delighting audiences from the Comedy Store to The Guilty Feminist Live, and hosting the onstage chat show Girl Code. Her TV and podcast credits include Jonathan Ross’ Comedy Club, Off Menu and Perfect Sounds. According to The Guardian, ‘Sikisa’s ebullient personality makes the room sing.’

Abandoman

Rob Broderick invites audience suggestions on almost any subject and instantly turn them into a funky hip-hop track. Dick & Dom’s house band has been hailed as ‘Flight of the Conchords meets 8 Mile.‘ For bigger audiences, he can work as a duo.

Kate Adie

People used to joke that if you find yourself in the same place as Adie you should get out immediately. As Chief News Reporter she broadcast from the front line in the Gulf War and riots in Tiananmen Square. Kate talks about Britain’s home front, and when women started going to football matches.

Henry Ajder

Henry works at the frontier of the generative AI and synthetic media revolution. He presented the BBC documentary series The Future will be Synthesised, and advises organisations on the challenges and opportunities new technologies present.

Ayo Akinwolere

Ayo became one of four people of colour with a swimming world record, when he swam in one of the deepest stretches of water on earth. The former Blue Peter presenter has written for the Daily Telegraph, BBC Sport and the Independent, and appeared on Celebrity MasterChef, the Great British Bake Off and Celebrity Pointless. After moving into sports and current affairs, Ayo co-created the production company Milk First Productions, which aims to tell diverse stories and amplify diverse voices.

Tom Allen

Tom is a household name. An award-winning comic with a well-spoken but often scathing line in put-downs, stories and observations.  His TV credits include The Apprentice: You’re Fired, The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice, Complaints Welcome, The Island and The Royal Variety Performance. As a presenter, Tom teases home bakers and budding entrepreneurs and rummages around our towns. To The Guardian, he is simply ‘The master of the nonstop rant.’

Dr Nighat Arif

Dr Nighat is a GP specialising in women’s health and family planning. She is a medical educator and provides teaching to local trainee GPs as well as at national and international conferences. Nighat was nominated for the National Bevan Prize for Health and Wellbeing to acknowledge her commitment to advancing wellbeing in her community. She has worked to raise awareness on menopause and women’s healthcare in Black and Asian women, and presented her clinical work at the Menopause in the Workplace Parliamentary committee hearing. Nighat...

Vanessa Baffoe

Vanessa is a Journalist and Presenter at Sky News. She has previously worked at BBC News and ITV News. She also hosts and moderates International Women’s Day for all of Sky’s platforms.

Dr Victoria Baines

Having worked in law enforcement and cybersecurity, Victoria joined the social media giant in a leading role to connect the business to government and security agencies. A leading thinker on trust and safety in the digital world, she looks at everything from the how, why and who of fake news to what AI could do for privacy, the myths and realities of cybercrime to what invading someone’s space in virtual reality might mean.

Clare Balding

Clare is the First Lady of TV sport. The ex-champion jockey fronts Royal Ascot, the Olympics, and the BBC's Wimbledon coverage. After dinner Clare shares highs and lows, and takes guests behind the latest back page headlines. She is also adept at live Q&A with sporting heroes.

Katy Balls

Now covering events in the US, Katy’s media career began at The Daily Telegraph before becoming Diary Editor and a Political Correspondent for The Spectator, where she then became Political Editor. She also hosted the podcast Women With Balls speaking to women at the top of their respective fields about their passions, battles and what makes them tick.

Georgie Barrat

On TV Georgie is part of the Gadget Show team and a regular tech correspondent. Away from reviewing the latest apps and devices she considers the implications for business and society of developments in the digital world, the changing expectations of the next generation of employees, and how to encourage more women to work in tech.

Martin Bayfield

Martin has progressed from copper to Crimewatch presenter. In between he enjoyed a successful career as a rugby forward, earning 31 international caps. With natural comic timing, the 6’10” colossus compares his own sport to football, and reveals how he became a part of the Harry Potter phenomenon.

Beardyman

Beardyman is a beatboxer, live looper, technologist and TED star–
 and the BBC’s official ‘King of Sound, Ruler of Beats.’ He’s also a festival (and Real Variety Show) favourite. Darren has won VMA’s Best Dance Music Video, appeared with Oprah and Ellen Degeneres, and collaborated with Groove Armada, Jack Black and Fatboy Slim.

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.

Rob Beckett

Rob came to standup from the event industry. He’s since hosted a Saturday night game show, become a regular on panel shows including as a team captain on 8 Out Of 10 Cats, co-hosted from the jungle and won Taskmaster.

Poorna Bell

As UK executive editor, HuffPost produced its first month-long campaign celebrating and giving voice to women and men across the world – The All Women Everywhere and Building Modern Men. Poorna has since become an acclaimed writer, raising awareness on the negative effects of the media and society’s decline in mental health.

Jason Bradbury

Labelling himself a ‘first generation geek,’ Jason is fixated with tech and all things web-related. And as David Walliams’ one-time stand-up partner he’s also a very entertaining performer. After looking at past technological breakthroughs, Jason explains why the next ten years could see as much progress as the last millennium. Using his own inventions (a robot and a glove phone), he shows how computers will become so integral that we cease to treat them as objects.

Marcus Brigstocke

The Telegraph describe Marcus as ‘a rare stand-up who makes you laugh and think.’ After hanging up his crown as King Arthur in Spamalot he’s back on Radio 4 as the friendly questioner on I’ve Never Seen Star Wars and in Radio 4’s Brig Society.

Doc Brown

As a rapper Doc Brown (aka Ben Smith) has worked with Mark Ronson and De La Soul. As an actor, he’s made his mark in Law & Order UK and Level Up. As a comic he mixes rhythmic skills and observations on London life into a skillful routine.

Rob Brydon

From the endearing Uncle Bryn in Gavin & Stacey to his sparring with Steve Coogan in The Trip, Rob is one of the most popular entertainers on screen, whether acting or chairing competing celebrity lies.  He also tours with his Fabulous Band. 

Alastair Campbell

Alastair ran Labour’s communications for ten years, in and out of government. Alongside co-hosting The Rest is Politics podcast, he advises on both political and organisational strategy, as well as working extensively with charities and campaigning around mental health. He’s written a slew of books including Winners, drawing inspiration from high achievers in sport, business and politics. In presentations Alastair explains what to do when you come under pressure: “Challenge your basic assumptions, put yourselves in your opponent’s shoes, devise a tight plan from t...