These speakers are at the forefront of their fields, whether in technology, leadership, sustainability, or strategy, and they bring a deep
understanding of trends shaping the future of business.
Unlike traditional motivational speakers, thought leaders challenge conventional thinking, inspiring organizations to innovate and adapt. They provide audiences with practical frameworks to navigate complexities, fostering creativity and problem-solving. By addressing real-world challenges and opportunities, thought leaders equip businesses with the tools to remain competitive in a rapidly evolving landscape.
Their influence extends beyond the event, sparking ongoing conversations and driving meaningful organisational change. Thought leaders can also enhance an event’s credibility, drawing in larger audiences and ensuring lasting impact. Businesses can inspire their teams, connect with industry trends, and unlock growth potential by engaging a thought leader.
Whether for virtual or in-person events, our Great Business Speakers bring a unique ability to inspire, educate, and engage audiences. They adapt their messaging to resonate across various platforms, ensuring maximum impact regardless of the setting. These speakers often possess exceptional storytelling skills, using real-world examples and compelling narratives to convey complex ideas simply and effectively.
Discover our Thought Leaders below, or contact the team at Great Business Speakers to enquire or book. +44 1753 439 289
Karen Blackett OBE is the UK Country Manager for WPP and Chairwoman of MediaCom UK and Ireland. She is a renowned business leader with an impressive track record in creating vibrant cultures, energising teams and consistently delivering business growth and success.
Named by Vogue as one of the 25 Most Influential and Inspirational Women of 2018 and ranked top of the EMpower 100 Ethnic Minority Executive Leaders list, Karen was appointed the national Race Equality Business Champion by then-Prime Minister Theresa May in 2018.
Karen is now a popular keynote speaker who can energise teams and promote diversity in the advertising and media industry to create a vibrant company culture.
From child prodigy to MBE, Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon is Head Stemette and co-founder of Stemettes, the award-winning social enterprise inspiring the next generations of females into Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) roles via a series of events, talks and opportunities.
She completed her GCSEs whilst in primary school, won a scholarship to study mathematics at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore at the age of 13, and was awarded a Masters degree in mathematics and computer science from the University of Oxford at age 20, becoming one of the youngest people ever to do so. Unsurprisingly, Anne-Marie’s career has continued to soar.
In 2018 alone, Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon was named in Forbes’ list of the Top 50 Women in Tech in the World, voted the 5th most influential woman in IT by Computer Weekly and was the recipient of the prestigious Barclays UK Woman of the Year Award.
Named amongst the top 10 BAME Leaders in Tech by The Evening Standard, Anne-Marie’s impact in STEM is unmatched. A champion for women in the sector, she discusses the future of work, why technology needs diversity and company culture transformation.
Anita Brightley-Hodges is a family business advisor, mentor, exceptional mediator, coach, keynote speaker, and champion of women.
With over 35 years of experience in working with families, Anita has the experience and passion to ensure your event goes without a hitch.
Anita Brightley-Hodges has spoken at events all around the world, appearing at leadership conferences, award ceremonies, university courses, networking events, on radio shows, and podcasts, and has worked for clients including the University of Oxford, EY, Campden Wealth, Saïd Business School, and KPMG.
Dr Aaron Balick, PhD. is a psychotherapist as well as a popular consultant, speaker and author.
He is recognised globally for his work in the understanding of psychology and how it can be used to support and benefit individuals, businesses and society as a whole. Aaron draws on more than twenty years of clinical and academic experience and is skilled at making psychology accessible to his varied audiences, in ways that are both engaging and entertaining.
He has appeared in a number of media organisations writing in the area of mental health with contributions in BBC Online, The Guardian, Newsweek and Wired Magazine. Aaron has offered his expertise across a variety of radio and television productions, including being the longest-running mental health contributor for BBC Radio 1’s phone-in Surgery programme for young people and appearing on BBC Radio 4’s The Moral Maze, and The Digital Human.
“Made a genuine difference to the team – gave them the tools to understand their own blockers and how to overcome them.” – Landmark Geodata
How do you sell if you hate selling?
An experienced sales person & mindful sales speaker, and agile mindset expert, Anis Qizilbash knows cognitive tricks to make you stop procrastinating, overcome fears, and appreciate your value. Her tools help leaders and teams unlock growth to achieve predictable, consistent, and powerful results in all areas of their professional or personal lives.
Anis Qizilbash helps leaders and teams from around the world create value for their clients, grow their businesses, and – most importantly – achieve their goals. individuals and companies alike have grown their sales, boosted performance, and gained renewed self-belief and motivation after a talk or workshop with Anis.
For over a decade, Andrew Vorster was the Head of Technology Research for Visa Europe, gaining a reputation for fresh thinking, and proposing pragmatic solutions to complex problems.
Andrew has over 30 years of experience identifying and tracking trends in technology and business behaviours across a variety of industries. His colourful and engaging storytelling drawn from his real-life experiences helps businesses to harness the current pace of change, identify the opportunities it presents, and stimulates transformation.
Jon Burkhart is best known for being an international award-winning keynote speaker, strategist and author of the world-famous Newsjacking.
Through his consultancy company, TBC Global, he has helped brands rethink their business practices so that they stand out from their competitors with a more impactful and engaging story. He has also helped leaders solve problems in surprising ways that lead to growth. In his speeches and workshops, he uses his Constant Curiosity framework to solve problems in marketing, company culture, and customer experience.
In the last decade, Jon has travelled to over 25 different countries, inspiring clients such as BMW, Deloitte, Havanans, Microsoft and Salesforce to be more daring. He is also one of the very few people to speak at the South By South West (SXSW) conference 10 times, and he now serves on their advisory board. He has also hosted an event at Cannes Lions which led him to create his ‘beernote’ closing keynote speech.
In addition to his own published work, he has been featured in publications such as Rolling Stone, Fast Company, and The Guardian.
David Thomas is a speaker with an unbelievable and inspirational story who will show your audience how to manage change and challenge.
David suffered a deeply abusive childhood at the hands of his alcoholic mother and aged stepfather. He went off the rails at 16. He started burgling shops, attempted suicide twice, nearly killed a police officer one night, received a criminal conviction and was expelled from school.
He turned his life around and after a series of dead-end jobs, joined the Fire Service at 20.
Andrew Thorp is an award-winning speaker, trainer and consultant in the field of business storytelling. He works with senior leaders and salespeople to improve their external marketing message, but also with their broader workforce to encourage a more connected and productive company culture.
Companies regularly hire a branding/marketing agency to help define their message (Vision, Values, Purpose, etc) but it often fizzles out when the focus returns to the daily grind; people revert to a factual and forgettable version.
Andrew Priestley is a multi-award-winning business leadership coach; ranked in the top 100 UK Entrepreneur Mentors 2017; best-selling author and speaker.
Qualified in Industrial and Organisational Psychology he talks enthusiastically about a broad range of fascinating topics including business leadership, fast uplift business growth, core fundamental human values, motivation, goal setting, and building neurones for success for peak performers.
Andrew is entertaining, instructive, challenging, and always relevant.
WWF Lifestyle Hero Award-winning David Saddington is a young British environmentalist and climate change influencer who has revolutionised government policy and sustainable business strategy.
From the United Nations to the beaches of Ibiza, David has worked to create game-changing collaborations to tackle climate change. He has seen the impacts of climate change first-hand, from witnessing the melting ice caps of Iceland to helping build extreme weather resilience in Africa.
His first experience on climate change effects was in 2005 when he found himself in the middle of one of the worst storms and floods to hit his home in North Yorkshire. This was before climate change was big news and he set it upon himself to educate his peers at school and in the wider community. At the age of 10, he worked with then-Prime Minister Tony Blair to get climate change education into school.
David Saddington was then chosen by the UK Government to communicate the concerns on climate change to the public in a landmark campaign that reached over 3 million people. With the ambition of raising awareness of the latest climate crises, David Saddington has taken his message across the media, in books and articles, on panel shows and panel debates and to wider events.
He is a renowned authority on the matter and is sought after to share his insights and expertise with corporate audience as a contemporary voice on environment changes and climate action.
Andrew is an accomplished senior leader with over 20 years’ experience in heading up major programmes. He excels in building integrated collaborative cultures with clients, and multi-disciplinary and organisational teams to achieve rapid delivery. Andrew trains teams and leaders to thrive under pressure, maximising their potential and teaching them how to look after their wellbeing.
Andrew helps leaders and teams unlock their potential through self-leadership, enhanced collaboration and practical strategies for navigating complex workplace challenges. Drawing on his extensive background of leading teams under intense pressure and the stress that comes with it, Andrew brings and applies 20 years of senior leadership experience, most recently serving as a Regional Director in the Private Sector and Director in the UK Civil Service where he led multi-billion pound programmes.
He is also an accredited mindfulness teacher and brought these two worlds together in his book Organisational Mindfulness: a How-To Guide in 2019 which has sold in four continents. By integrating his experience in leadership and his teachings in mindfulness, Andrew has developed a method to help leaders and their teams embed mindfulness techniques in their organisation.
Currently, Andrew McNeill offers leadership training to a wide range of small and large organisations, helping individuals and teams improve their performance and their wellbeing.
David Rowan is one of the world’s leading technology speakers and thought leaders.
He is founding UK Editor-in-Chief of the highly respected WIRED magazine, and author of Amazon #1 business bestseller Non-Bullshit Innovation: Radical Ideas from the World’s Smartest Minds (Penguin). David Rowan has delivered over 600 keynote talks around the world and event moderator for governments, WIRED, TED and the World Economic Forum.
Elsewhere he is technology columnist on The Times, GQ and Condé Nast Traveller. Not just a speaker, David Rowan practice’s what he preaches, being an active adviser to & investor in 60+ tech start-ups to date.
David McQueen is an international speaker, executive coach and facilitator, working with clients around the globe and sharing his insights on effective leadership and communication in the workplace.
He started his career as an accountant, then went to IT working in systems support and then as a project manager.
In his career, he found that he spent as much time advising colleagues on career development and presentation skills as he did the technical part of work and decided that he would leave the corporate world to set up his own communications company, Narratively Ltd.
Since then David McQueen has spoken at conferences, in-house meetings, away days and executive retreats in Europe, Canada, USA, The Middle East, Thailand, South Africa, Australia and Tanzania to name but a few.
Joe Britto’s passion for mindset as a lever of change is contagious. Author of The Six Attributes of a Leadership Mindset (Crown House Publishing, 2019), Joe works with a wide range of industries across the non-profit, public, and private sectors.
Psychological coach, mindset consultant, thinker, speaker, and writer, Joe Britto founded Innate Leaders, a mindset consultancy, in 2008. It operates in the UK and North America and has gone on to work with organisations including NASA, Lockheed Martin, intel, Coca Cola, and Bayer in the areas of change management, strategy, and the implementation of both.
In 2021 he developed ‘Mindset VI’, a visionary and innovative way to operationalise a shift in mindset around change and strategy in small business and multinationals.
Prior to founding Innate Leaders Joe Britto was an international trainer, radio producer, sound engineer, tree planter, and bush firefighter. And that’s only the tip of the iceberg.
David Hyner is a unique motivational speaker and facilitator on goal-setting and purpose. He brings a sense of humour and authenticity to a subject he has been researching over the last 23 years.
He’s carried out 250+ interviews with top achievers and takes inspiration from this research to see how this learning, behaviour and wisdom can be applied to get better results for people and for businesses.
First and foremost though David Hyner is a Brummie. There is an ‘ordinaryness’ and a down-to-earthness that is a core part of who he is and what he offers the world.
David Gillespie is an actor, author, keynote speaker, and corporate coach. He has had many TV appearances including, EastEnders, Holby City, and Red Dwarf.
He also appeared with the ‘Long Johns’ in Bremner Bird, and Fortune and led the cast of BBC’s totally improvised Operation Good Guys comedy series, which won Gold and Silver Roses at the Montreux TV Festival.
In April 2023, it was announced that David would return to EastEnders to revise his role as Duncan Boyd, 34-years after initially leaving the soap.
Jimmy McLoughlin is the former Special Advisor to the British Prime Minister, PR & marketing professional, and current Head Podcaster on Jimmy’s Jobs of the Future.
Jimmy’s Jobs has since become one of the UK’s top listened to podcasts.
Dave Birss is obsessed with creativity, what it is, how to make use of it, and why some people are better at it than others. It’s at the very centre of everything he does, and he is passionate about helping everyone to improve their creative thinking.
Dave’s talks are simple, easy-to-understand, funny, interesting, and captivating, and offer audiences tangible ideas that they can then implement in their own personal or professional lives.
As well as keynote speaking, Dave offers a number of training courses designed to help at every stage of the creative process, offers consulting work to a wide-range of companies to create better ideas and more successful innovation, and puts all his thoughts to paper, publishing a number of successful books.
Jim Lusty is a creative, energetic, large-than-life character who helps organisations transform their teams and cultures into more energetic, creative and inspiring ones.
He has an impressive track record for challenging and expanding global businesses, and among his client list are Nike, Spotify, ITV, Diageo and WPP.
Jim has the unique ability to make holistic connections with people who innovate both their work and life, whether in workshops or speaking at conferences and events worldwide. People leave feeling energised, inspired and ready to make change.
Helping his audiences get out of their comfort zone and feel special simultaneously, Jim helps people embrace and make changes, injecting a human, creative element into what they do.
Jessica Sansom has spent over 20 years leading change in the food industry, embedding sustainability into business models and shaping strategies across the entire value chain. Most recently, as Sustainability Director at Huel, she led efforts to align nutrition, health, and environmental impact. Before that, she held senior sustainability roles at Innocent Drinks and McDonald’s, working on sustainability, supply chains, and policy influence. She is also a recognised keynote speaker on the future of food, sustainable leadership, and consumer engagement.
Jessica is passionate about building a food system that nourishes both people and the planet. She thrives on challenging the status quo, driving collaboration across sectors, and turning ambition into action.
Jessica Sansom has recently been appointed as the Chief Impact Officer of EIT Food – Europe’s largest and most dynamic food innovation community. In this role, Jessica is leading their work to build a future-fit food system that produces healthy and sustainable food for all through the support of innovation, entrepreneurship, education and public engagement.
Jessica has claimed several awards in her efforts in championing sustainable business including the Guardian Sustainable Business Award, Community Big Tick Award and the Rainforest Alliance Frog Award. Her efforts as an ethical and environmental leader have also been recognised by Forbes and Ethical Corporation.
Jessica Sansom is also recognised as a keynote speaker on the future of food, consumer engagement, and sustainable leadership.
Jeremy Schwartz is a business expert on accelerating the performance of individuals and teams to profit from sustainability. As a former CEO & MD with iconic consumer and retail companies, Coca-Cola, L’Oréal, The Body Shop and Pandora, he delivers audiences ‘valuable actionable insights.’’
Jeremy draws on his leadership roles where he inspired teams to turn around Pandora and Sainsburys and innovate sustainability initiatives, delivering in excess of $20 billion of shareholder value.
This, he combines with a prediction of the future.
“Alison delivers clear business impact, with a human touch and personable approach.”
Dr Alison Edgar MBE, is an expert in improving performance inside organisations. Throughout Alison’s years advising entrepreneurial businesses, she has analysed the important factors that make them successful. Alison takes these lessons and applies them to big companies, enhancing motivation, communication, and agility. She is known both for her practical tools that teams can implement immediately and for the ground-breaking and lasting impact she has on audiences.
Alison Edgar was one of the few women to be awarded an MBE on the Queen’s Birthday Honours list in 2020 for her services to entrepreneurship and business. After gaining her knowledge and experience in the corporate arena for over 25 years, Alison has mentored some of the world’s leading entrepreneurs, from start-ups to multi-million-pound turnovers.
A dyslexic author of two international best-selling books, Alison Edgar has mastered the balance of how to enhance readers’ personal and professional development. Her debut book was not only a WHSmith Top Ten Business Book but named one of the top business books written by a woman in 2019 by The Independent newspaper.
Alex Partridge is one of the pioneers of social media content the way we know it today. At age 21 in 2010, while a student at Oxford Brookes University, he founded UNILAD, one of the most engaged with social news and entertainment Internet companies in the world with an astonishing following of over 50 million people around the globe. In 2012, Alex founded LADBible which would also grew to become a social media juggernaut.
He is regarded as a Facebook Genius!
