Our speakers

Rt Hon George Osborne MP
Chancellor of the Exchequer

George Osborne was appointed as Chancellor of the Exchequer on the 12th May 2010.
Born and educated in London, George studied modern history at Oxford University.
After a short spell as a freelance journalist, George joined the Conservative Research Department in 1994.

George has covered a wide range of issues and departments in his career – including Work and Pensions, Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, and Transport.

Before becoming Shadow Chancellor, he served as Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury and Shadow Economic Secretary, as well as sitting on the Public Accounts Select Committee.

He has been MP for Tatton since 2001 and was Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer for 5 years before the 2010 election.

Mr. Osborne is married to his wife Frances and has two children. He lives in London and Cheshire.

 

Rt Hon Dr Vince Cable MP
Secretary of State for Business,
Innovation and Skills

Vince Cable read Natural Science and Economics at Cambridge University, where he was President of the Union, after which he studied for a PhD at Glasgow University.

From 1990, Vince Cable worked for Shell International and in 1995 became the company's Chief Economist. He was appointed head of the economics programme and since becoming an MP in 1997, was appointed a fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford and was a visiting research fellow at the London School of Economics.

He joined the Liberal Democrat Shadow Cabinet in 1999 as spokesman on Trade and Industry after a spell as a junior Treasury spokesman. He has been the Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor since November 2003 and in March 2006, was elected as Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats.

He is married to Rachel with three children by his late wife, Olympia.

 

Rt Hon Ed Miliband MP
Leader of the Opposition

Labour's youngest ever leader upon his election, Ed was born in North London in 1969. He graduated from Oxford University with a degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics and obtained a Masters degree from the London School of Economics.
 
Before entering parliament, Ed worked briefly as a journalist and later with Gordon Brown and the Labour government. Elected to represent Doncaster North in 2005, he served in the Labour government from 2007 to 2008 as Minister for the Cabinet Office and as Secretary of State for Climate Change between 2008 and 2010. As Climate Change Secretary, Ed led the British delegation to the Copenhagen summit and worked to ensure that a global agreement was established.

Ed lives in his Doncaster constituency and in North London, with his partner Justine and their two sons, Daniel and Sam.

 

The Rt Hon Eric Pickles MP
Secretary of State

Eric Pickles was born in 1952. He has been Member of Parliament for Brentwood and Ongar since 1992. Other posts have included Shadow Secretary of State for Local Government and the Regions; Shadow Minister for Transport and Shadow Minister for London; member of the Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs Select Committee, Vice-Chairman of the Conservative Party, with special responsibility for local government affairs and Parliamentary Private Secretary to Tim Sainsbury MP, Minister for Industry.

He joined the Shadow Cabinet in 2007 as the Department for Communities and Local Government Secretary having served from August 2005 to July 2007 as Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party. In January 2009, David Cameron appointed Eric Pickles Chairman of the Conservative Party.

On 12 May 2010 Eric Pickles MP was appointed Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.

 

Sahar Hashemi
Coffee Republic, Skinny Candy

Sahar Hashemi is an inspirational female entrepreneur who build two brands; Coffee Republic, UK’s first coffee bar chain, which she and her brother started from their kitchen table and grew to 110 stores and £30m turnover and exited in 2001, and Skinny Candy, the guilt free confectionery brand which she sold to Glisten Plc in 2007.  

She is also a bestselling author of 'Anyone Can Do It- building Coffee Republic from our kitchen table,’ and 'Switched On' about developing the entrepreneurial mindset and its resonance for employees in large corporations. She also has an ‘Ask Sahar’ column in Director magazine.

Formerly a lawyer, Sahar has been recognised for her entrepreneurial achievements by Her Majesty the Queen and named a ‘Pioneer to the life of the nation’. She was named in top ten list of ‘Original thinkers whose idea will help shape Britain’s recovery’ in February 2011 Director magazine and a ‘young global leader’ by the World Economic Forum in Davos. She was also named one of 100 most influential women in Britain by Daily Mail and 35 top women in British business by Management Today. 

 

Steve Felice
Dell Executive Team

Steve Felice serves as President, Consumer, Small and Medium Business, for Dell. He leads the Dell organisation that creates and delivers solutions and technology to more than 10 million small- and medium-sized businesses globally. This organisation is responsible for Dell’s portfolio of consumer products, including desktops, laptops, software and product design and sales.

Prior to this, Steve was senior Vice President and President, Asia Pacific and Japan, where he led Dell’s operations throughout the region. He has also served as Vice President, Corporate Business Group, Dell Americas, responsible for global corporate customers based in the United States. Before that, he held various executive roles in Dell's sales and consulting services organisations.

Steve joined Dell in 1999 from DecisionOne Corp., where he was Chief Executive Officer and President. He also worked for Bell Atlantic and Shell Oil in Houston.

Steve has a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Iowa and a master's degree in business administration from the University of Houston.

 

Ken McMeikan
CEO, Greggs

Ken became Chief Executive of Greggs, the UK’s leading bakery retailer, in 2008. 

Whilst steering the company successfully through the recession, Ken has ambitious expansion plans to open another 600+ shops, creating a further 6,000 new jobs in the UK in the coming years.

After five years service in the Royal Navy, Ken began his retail career at Sears.  He joined Tesco in 1990, later becoming CEO of Tesco in Japan. In 2005, Ken moved to Sainsbury’s, before joining Greggs as Chief Executive in 2008.

In June 2010, Ken became HRH Prince of Wales’ Ambassador for the North East, as a result of growing Greggs Breakfast Clubs in primary schools in deprived areas and his work in local communities. Ken led teams of North East business leaders to set up work programmes including support for the homeless and skills training for women prisoners.

 

Chris Sullivan
Chief Executive of the UK Corporate Banking Division, RBS

Chris Sullivan was appointed Chief Executive of the UK Corporate Banking Division including SME and the GTS Division in August 2009. These businesses hold market positions of 1st (in the UK) and 5th (globally) respectively.
Chris' previous role was as Chief Executive of RBS Insurance and prior to this, he was Chief Executive of Retail and Deputy Chief Executive of Retail Markets.

Chris initially worked within sales management and in 1993, he became the National Sales Director for Lombard Business Finance, moving on to become Managing Director and later Chief Executive of Lombard Group, a business he joined from school in 1975. Chris has a proven track record in growing businesses, which he demonstrated in the five years he was Chief Executive of Lombard Asset Finance, where he developed the business to a leadership position in the UK and Europe.

Chris also earned a Fellowship of Chartered Institute of Bankers Scotland for his services to Scottish Banking in various roles throughout his career.

 

Mike Wright
Executive Director, Jaguar Land Rover

Mike Wright was appointed to the new role of Executive Director, Jaguar Land Rover, on 1st December 2010. He has been a member of the Jaguar Land Rover Executive Committee, reporting to the Chief Executive Officer, since March 2003 - initially as Managing Director, Jaguar (2003 – 2004) and then as Director, Customer Services, Jaguar Land Rover.

As Executive Director, Mike Wright works closely with Jaguar Land Rover CEO      Dr Ralf Speth, on corporate strategies to deliver Jaguar Land Rover's growth ambitions, including improvement to profit margins and financial break-even. He also has Executive Committee responsibility for Product Planning, Corporate Governance & Social Responsibility; global Financial Services; Government Affairs and the Special Vehicle division for both the Jaguar and Land Rover brands.

Mike has held global responsibilities at Jaguar Land Rover since 2002, leading a number of major strategic initiatives within Marketing, Sales & Service; most recently the transition of the worldwide commercial activities from Ford to Tata following the latter's purchase of Jaguar Land Rover in 2008.

Mike, who gained a BSc in Communications Science & Linguistics at the University of Aston in Birmingham, UK, began his career in the automotive industry at Rover Triumph in 1975. He has held senior sales and marketing positions in a number of international markets, including four years in Germany, working at different times for the Rover, Land Rover, Jaguar and now Jaguar Land Rover.

Mike Wright was born in 1953, is married with three children and lives in Stratford-upon-Avon, in Warwickshire, UK. He lists among his interests, rugby; skiing; walking and theatre, is the Jaguar Land Rover representative on the CBI West Midlands Council and has previously served on the West Midlands Regional Boards of both Sport England and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

 

David Kern
Chief Economist at the British Chambers
of Commerce

David Kern is Chief Economist at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC). Before setting up his own independent macro-economic consultancy in 2000, David Kern was NatWest Group’s Chief Economist for more than 17 years and Head of the Bank’s Market Intelligence Department.

As Chief Economist, David Kern comments on behalf of the BCC on economic policy issues, and he is quoted regularly in the media and financial press. He is responsible for preparing the BCC’s economic forecasts, and is closely involved in the analysis and presentation of the BCC’s Quarterly Economic Survey (QES).

David Kern speaks regularly on economic issues at professional gatherings, and contributes frequently to leading professional journals. He focuses on global and UK economic forecasts, monetary policy, the currency markets, interest rates, the bond markets, country and credit risk assessment, and UK regional developments. David Kern holds an M.Sc. (Econ) from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA).

 

Elliot Moss
Director of Business Development,
Mishcon de Reya

Elliot joined the firm after spending 15 years in advertising, having started his career at Leo Burnett as a management trainee. He worked in London, Mumbai and Mexico City over a 12 year period.

His clients included Procter and Gamble, Kellogg's, Express Newspapers, Mercedes-Benz and Oxfam. He ran local, international and global client business, and was on the Management Board of the London Office, with roles including Head of Client Service, Head of Graduate Recruitment and P&G Operations Director. He became Managing Director of Leagas Delaney London in 2005. Over the next four years he helped the business to grow by 40%, developed a digital offering and led successful pitches for clients including Timberland, The Body Shop, Stannah and Dyson.

He has worked for a number of years in broadcasting, including presenting on LBC. He is also a member of the National Youth Theatre Development Board, the London Chamber of Commerce and the in midtown Board.

Tom Smith
Executive Chairman, Nessco Group Holdings Ltd

Tom is the Executive Chairman and a founder of Nessco Group Holdings Ltd – one of the UK’s largest independent providers of telecommunication services and solutions to the global O&G industry.

Tom was born in Aberdeen and qualified in Electronics from Southampton. He was an Electronics Officer in the Merchant Navy before moving back to the offshore Oil and gas industry where he later became co-chair of Oil & Gas UK and a member of the Government/Industry body PILOT.

Tom was previously President of the Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce. He was awarded the Sir Alick Buchanan-Smith award for Personal Achievement in the Scottish Offshore Achievement awards and Regional Director of the Year award by the Institute of Directors.

In 2007, Tom became Aberdeen’s first Oil Baron. He also became Chairman of ACSEF (Aberdeen City & Shire Economic Future), and a non executive director of Univation Ltd, the commercial arm of The Robert Gordon University.

Tom is involved with several charities namely CLIC Sargent, CLAN (Cancer Link Aberdeen & North) and Cash for Kids (CFK).

 

Elizabeth Fothergill
Chief Executive of Pennine Healthcare

Elizabeth Fothergill has an honours degree in Library and Information Studies and an MA in Management.  She is Chief Executive of Pennine Healthcare, one of the UK’s leading privately owned manufacturers of single use sterile disposable healthcare products.  The company has a wide ranging sales base, including the majority of the UK hospitals and an extensive export market, with sales to over 70 countries worldwide

Elizabeth is Vice Chairman of the Governing Council of the University of Derby and Chair of the Further Education Governance Committee.

Elizabeth is a member of the Department of Justice, Southern Derbyshire Advisory Committee and a Trustee of Derbyshire Careline.  She is Chair of the Trustees of Derwent Stepping Stones, a neighbourhood nursery, training and community development centre in a deprived area of Derby.   She is also a non-executive director of Derby Renaissance Board and the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Chamber of Commerce.

 

Vicky Pryce
Senior Managing Director, FTI’s Economic Consulting practice

Vicky joined FTI in September 2010 and leads on business economics, working with leading companies on issues from corporate strategy to public policy. Prior to this, she was Director General, Economics & Chief Economic Adviser, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and Joint Head, UK Government Economic Service, 2007-2010l.  Vicky is a member of the Secretary of State for Business Panel on monitoring the economy and is also a member of his Business Advisory Group.  Before joining the Civil Service, Vicky was Partner at London Economics, Partner and Chief Economist at KPMG, Corporate Economist at Esso Europe and Chief Economist at Williams & Glyn’s Bank (later RBS).
                 
Vicky is a visiting Professor at the CASS Business School, a fellow of the Society of Business Economists, Adjunct Professor at Imperial College Business School, Visiting Professor at Queen Mary College and a visiting Fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford. She was also instrumental in the creation of GoodCorporation, a company formed to promote Corporate Social Responsibility. She has just become the first female Master of the Worshipful Company of Management Consultants and is a Patron of “Pro-Bono” Economics.