Leadership Speakers

Nigel Taberner

Former hostage negotiator

Nigel is a former UK hostage negotiator and expert speaker on communication, influence, and negotiation. During his 10 year career as a negotiator, he saved over 130 lives, successfully resolving highly volatile armed sieges, domestic and international kidnaps and high-risk suicide interventions. As a passionate and engaging speaker Nigel brings to life, through his stories, subjects such as elite level listening, emotional intelligence and how to influence people and negotiate when you have nothing to give away.

Grace Marshall

Chief Encourager

Award-winning keynote speaker and author Grace Marshall helps leaders and teams do their best work in changing times. She names the hidden reason smart strategies stall and brilliant people burn out - High Functioning Fear® - and her refreshingly human, memorable Three Shifts framework gives people a practical way to move from fear-driven reaction to courageous, connected action.

Phil Lewis

Agent of Change

Phil Lewis is the person you call when your business is stuck, when change is failing, or when you need your organisation to adapt, fast. He brings about real change and innovation, using his trademark combination of compassion and candour to take the whole company on a journey. In a keynote, he shares stories of transformation and practical advice that are proven to add significant commercial value.

Paul Spiers

Global keynote speaker, advisor, Podcast Host

Paul Spiers is a leading keynote voice at the intersection of AI leadership, transformation, culture and human-centred change. He is founder of The New P&L® Institute, host of top 5% global podcast, The New P&L – Principles & Leadership in Business, and author of the forthcoming book, THE SENSITIVE CYBORG™: Recoding leadership & Culture for the Age of AI. Through his keynotes and workshops, Paul equips boards and leadership teams with the frameworks and mindset to enable them transform their culture and leadership and help them thrive in an era of rapid technology-led change.

Tom Cheesewright

Applied Futurist

Tom Cheesewright is a futurist who scares and inspires people in equal measure, with his clear and powerful stories of tomorrow. Using his unique ‘Futurist’s Toolkit’, Tom can turn his analytical eye to any industry, impressing the audience with his deep understanding and giving them a unique take on where they are heading.

Emma Henderson

Leadership Speaker

Emma Henderson MBE is a leadership speaker and one of fewer than 500 female airline captains worldwide. Through her signature approach, Grounded Leadership, Emma shares powerful lessons from 30 years in aviation to help organisations develop authentic leadership, strengthen decision-making, and build resilient, high-performing teams. Blending compelling stories with practical insights, she inspires audiences to lead with humanity, humility, and humour, and equips them with tools to thrive in today’s increasingly turbulent world.

Alex Staniforth

The Adversity Adventurer

By 19 years old Alex had already overcome and achieved more than many will in a lifetime, and survived the two most significant disasters in Mount Everest history, in two consecutive years. This is not your typical success story of reaching the summit. Combining lessons from adventure and ultra-endurance with a relatable vulnerability, he shares his Resilience Rucksack that anyone can apply to achieve their own Everest.

Greg Merrill

Executive Advisor

Human + Leadership + Transformation From startups to the Swoosh, Greg Merrill brings a rare mix of empathy, global experience, and transformative leadership. His keynotes on authentic leadership, navigating change, and the future of commerce deliver stories and strategies that resonate across industries—energizing audiences to focus on what matters, unlock value, and thrive in disruption.

Neil Edge

Resilience Speaker

Neil Edge is a mental performance speaker and ultra-endurance athlete who helps leaders prevent burnout and lead through personal adversity. Drawing on his experience living with cancer and coaching professional triathletes, he translates resilience and cognitive performance science into clear, practical tools that help leadership teams sustain clarity, composure, and long-term performance.

Celia Gaze

Conscious Founder

Celia Gaze is a Conscious Founder, TEDx speaker and B Corp leader who turned a rundown farm into an award-winning, purpose-led brand. Through powerful storytelling, humour and hard-won lessons, she inspires leaders to build profitable businesses that put wellbeing, sustainability and people first, while proving that impact and imagination belong at the heart of commercial success.

Mo Kanjilal

Founder & Director at Edge Of Difference

Mo Kanjilal is a TEDx speaker, entrepreneur and author with 25+ years leading diverse teams in the tech world. Known for championing bold inclusion, Mo brings sharp insight and real-world experience to every stage she steps on. She helps audiences rethink how they communicate, work and lead — by truly including different perspectives, people and lives.

Michelle Niziol

Wealth Strategist

Michelle Niziol is an award-winning Wealth Strategist and serial entrepreneur who went from near-homelessness at 17 to building a multi-million-pound property and finance group. Female Entrepreneur of the Year winner 2025, Michelle speaks powerfully on financial independence, resilience, and building wealth on your own terms—combining real-world results with bold advocacy for women in business.

Lauren Paton

Resourced Rule Breaker

Lauren Paton is a globally recognised leadership strategist, coach and speaker on a mission to get more women seen, heard and promoted in the rooms where real power lives. With a 20-year career spanning some of the world’s biggest brands - including Amazon, Audible and Disney - Lauren’s work has always had one focus: visibility, strategy and influence that works.

Ieva Poriete

Bespoke Tailor

I speak on executive presence, showing how the way women dress can communicate confidence, credibility and purpose before they say a word. In a 30-45 min talk I introduce 5 Lulu Stripe Style Archetypes - a practical toolkit that helps women design a work wardrobe for key career moments. My aim is to help women lead with intention, dress with confidence, and use style as a powerful professional advantage.

Alex Atherton

Generations speaker

I help senior leaders, HR leads and L&D leads to: 👉 Recruit, retain and understand Gen Z 👉 Overcome the challenges of the multi-generational workplace, transforming generational friction into strategic strength I do it through • speaking at conferences and events or in boardrooms and business networking groups. • my book 'The Snowflake Myth: Explaining Gen Z in the workplace and beyond.

Shivvy

Futurist & Neuroscience Expert

Described by CNN as “one of the most trusted voices in the industry” and by the World Economic Forum as a ‘thought leader beyond compare’, Shivvy is one of Britain's very few female, Asian Tech Futurists who also specialises in the human, behavioural psychology side. As a five-time award winning Futurist and Neuroscience expert, she's done over 600 speeches and hit a 38 Million reach online! 25 industry accolades in, she's been named one of Britain’s ‘Women of the Year’ and an Asian Woman of Achievement.

Colin Ellis

Culture Consultant

I'm a 5 x best-selling author, award-winning speaker and culture consultant with almost 200 recommendations for my work of helping organisations to transform their cultures. I work with some of the world's biggest (and smallest!) organisations to help them create safe, respectful, high performing teams.

Victoria Humphries

Keynote speaker

Victoria Humphries is a polar adventurer, three times Guinness World Record holder, mountain climber, marathon runner, author, Bath based businesswoman and a ‘normal’ person. She prides herself on being just your average woman who happens to believe that Anything is Possible if you put your mind to it. What’s the worst that can happen? Just give it a go!

Gill Whitty-Collins

Gill Whitty-Collins - Author of WHY MEN WIN AT WORK… and how we can make inequality history. & a captivating keynote speaker who leaves audiences enlightened, inspired & motivated to drive gender equality

Author of the ground-breaking book WHY MEN WIN AT WORK… and how we can make inequality history, Gill Whitty-Collins has gone from a comprehensive high school, to Cambridge University, to Senior Vice-President at Procter & Gamble; to Gender Equality champion. She is a captivating and thought-provoking keynote speaker who leaves audiences enlightened, inspired & motivated to drive progresson gender equality. Inclusive approach that resonates with everyone in the organization & provides actionable tips for all genders to drive real changeA razor-sharp, highly energetic, inspiring communicator with a clear vision and message delivered in a straightforward style

Bronwyn Williams

Futurist x Economist = Court Jester

The Court Jester you didn't know you needed : Bronwyn is a professional futurist and economist who helps you understand our world so you can change it. She is the author of four books, and has extensive experience consulting to listed firms, international NGOs, central banks and governments all over the world. She is a sought after media commentator comfortable with speaking uncomfortable, yet necessary truth to power.

Vinay Parmar

Why people come back, and what quietly makes them stop

Vinay Parmar is a keynote speaker on why people come back, and what quietly makes them stop. Thirty years from the frontline to the boardroom taught him the answer is always trust, and that trust is built in the moments people remember. Audiences call him a whirlwind. They leave thinking differently, and still talking weeks later.

Nicky Wake

Founder & Serial Entrepreneur

For 20 years, I’ve built communities and led award-winning events. But it was after facing loss, that I turned my experience into purpose. I create spaces where people can connect during life’s hardest times. And as a speaker, I bring strength, empathy, and fearless storytelling to every stage. My story is tear jerking, emotional and inspirational and proves that with resilience and vision, we can transform our greatest pain into purpose. It is proof that sometimes, life’s most extraordinary chapter begin exactly when you think your story has ended.

Graham Norris

Change Psychologist and Futurist

Paralysed by change and demoralised by uncertainty, companies hire Dr. Graham Norris to help them think more confidently about the future so they can make great decisions. An award-winning speaker, Graham is currently the Chief Futurist at CIPS and this year's Conference Futurist at The Meetings Show. In his entertaining keynotes and workshops, Graham shows audiences how they can cultivate the futurist within them, lean into the uncertainties and become agents of change, rather than victims of it. His TEDx talk Be More Futurist has inspired over 50,000 viewers, and through his newsletter, The DIY Futurist, he shows leaders how to develop foresight as a competitive advantage.

Rob Hosking

The Mighty Motivator

Dubbed ‘The Mighty Motivator’ by Chris Evans, Rob Hosking is a TEDx speaker and former frontline Police Officer who helps teams thrive under pressure. Blending raw, real-life stories with practical tools, he inspires organisations to lead through change, build resilience, and prioritise mental wellbeing while empowering people to adapt fast, speak up, and perform at their best.

Eileen Donnelly

Workplace Wellbeing Pioneer

Eileen Donnelly is a Strategic Wellbeing Leader with 20+ years of senior corporate experience and a track record of helping organisations embed purpose and measurable wellbeing. A multi-award-winning speaker and FTSE 250 alumna, she’s known for cutting through the fluff with evidence-based insights that link employee mental health to real business impact.

Martina Witter

Workplace Health and Wellbeing Consultant BABCCP Accredited Cognitive Behaviour Therapist AOC Coach

Martina Witter is an award-winning CBT therapist, AOC Leadership Coach and resilience speaker who helps leaders and teams thrive under pressure. With warmth, humour, and science-based strategies, she transforms stress into strength and adversity into advantage. Through her signature talks like Rivers to Resilience™, Martina inspires audiences to rest, reset, and rise personally and professionally.

Padmasini Dayananda

Impact Coach

Growth Advisor and Impact Coach for Women in Tech |TEDx Speaker |Social Sustainability Advocate| #4 in the Top 10 diverse leaders in UK Tech| Social Mobility champion DEITA 2023|Women in IT 2022 |TechWomen 100 UK 2020|

Jude Jennison

Executive coach

Jude Jennison develops CEOs and executive teams to lead change with clarity, by working with a herd of horses to reveal unconscious non-verbal behaviours. A bestselling author, her clients include blue chip companies and fast-growing entrepreneurial businesses.

Stephen Steers

President

Stephen Steers is a consultant, keynote speaker, and author of Superpower Storytelling. He’s helped 1,000+ companies across 40+ countries—including Google and Nike—sell with confidence. Creator of Context Selling, Stephen teaches what school doesn’t: how to connect, listen, and lead with stories that convert. Because stories close the sale, never the conversation.

Christine Cort

Christine Cort co-founded the biennial Manchester International Festival (MIF) in 2005 along with former CEO and Artistic Director Alex Poots. Born in Blackburn in 1963, Christine was Managing Director at the MIF for 16 years. The festival is widely regarded as one of the most successful in the world, with a reputation for staging world premieres and entirely new work, bringing visitors from across the globe to Manchester.

Chris Britton

Appreciation Expert

For the past 15 years, Chris has used his empathy first approach to humanity to drive positive change and high performance in organisations including Virgin, Vodafone, River Island and Reward Gateway. Chris’s passion for seeing people for who they are, not just what they can do has led to him to inspiring audiences across the world with a mix a groundbreaking research, personal story telling, humour and practical next steps.

Penny Mallory

Penny Mallory helps people to develop their Mental Toughness, so they can better manage stress, pressure and the challenges life chucks at us

Penny Mallory is a motivational speaker, specialising in Mental Toughness, High Performance, and Mindset Transformation. As a teenage homeless runaway, Penny turned her life around to become a Rally Driving Champion , TV presenter, boxer, mountaineer and marathon runner, Penny’s extraordinary journey, from homelessness to competing in World Championship motorsport, has inspired audiences across every industry and sector. She puts it all down toher mental Toughness

Alexandra Forsyth

Alexandra Forsyth is a speaker, podcast host and TEDx presenter working across women’s sport, leadership and human performance — helping leaders and organisations turn potential into performance through her H.U.M.A.N. ROI Matrix™.

Alexandra Forsyth is a speaker, podcast host and TEDx presenter working at the intersection of women’s sport, leadership and human performance. Through Take A Chance On You — her media and speaking platform — and her H.U.M.A.N. ROI Matrix™, she helps leaders and organisations turn what people build under pressure into how they perform, lead and grow. UK-rooted, increasingly working across the US.

Helen Butters

Helen Butters is a record-breaking ocean rower, motivational speaker, and performance life coach who helps people turn belief into action. In 2016, as part of the Yorkshire Rows team, she helped make history by becoming one of the first women to row the North Sea and then the Atlantic in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge, earning a Guinness World Record. Today, Helen brings those lessons in resilience, teamwork, and pushing beyond limits to audiences worldwide from corporate leaders at Mercedes F1 and Ernst and Young to individuals seeking personal transformation. Through powerful storytelling and coaching grounded in NLP, she helps people move from knowing they want change to understanding how to achieve it. Her message is simple: limits are learned, resilience is built, and extraordinary results are possible when we choose to believe.

Alexander Bell

Creator of Tech Rules®

Technology and productivity expert, Alexander Bell, works with organisations to maximise performance, reclaim balance and inspire human connection. Technology shapes how we work and connect, but endless distractions weaken focus, hinder performance and undermine our presence. In our always-on world, success isn’t just about productivity; it’s about how your people use technology to balance performance, digital wellbeing and human connection. Alexander helps teams design smarter digital habits, control their focus and develop Attention Intelligence® to thrive in a tech-driven world. But without Tech Rules®, tech rules you.