The Leading Speakers Bureau

Former Minister of State for Trade & Investment and Former Director-General of the CBI

Lord Digby Jones became Director-General of the CBI in 2000 to serve a five-year non-renewable term of office. In an unprecedented move in 2003 this was extended at the request of CBI members. Having successfully taken the British business message to over 55 different countries he left the CBI in 2006 and joined Deloitte as Chairman of the Deloitte Industries Group and a senior adviser to the CEO. In 2007 he was named by Prime Minister Gordon Brown as Minister for Trade and Investment at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and at the Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform, a role from which he recently stepped down in 2008 and was appointed the ambassador for the Government’s National Economic Council.

“The voice of British business”

[expand title=”In detail”] It was in corporate finance and client development that Lord Jones made his name and he was also involved in most of the major management buy-outs and merger and acquisition activity in the West Midlands in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 1998 he joined KPMG as Vice Chairman of Corporate Finance where he acted as close adviser to many public companies across the United Kingdom. In 2007 he was created a life peer as Lord Jones of Birmingham.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]In various roles throughout his distinguished career, he has regularly and repeatedly visited businesses around the UK and across the world, taking their views back to those who make the rules. He has appeared regularly on television, radio and in the newspapers, promoting the interests of wealth and job creation in the UK, the rest of Europe and beyond.[/expand]
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Entrepreneur & Co-founder & CEO of Axialent

Axialent co-founder and CEO Andy Freire is an inspired entrepreneur in both business and social realms. He successfully built his business from start-up to US$ 40 million in annual sales in a 30 month span and in the process creating the leading business to business e-commerce platform in Latin America. Most recently, he was chosen as “Young Global Leader 2008” by the World Economic Forum. He is the Chairman of Endeavor Foundation in Argentina and is also member of the board of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) chapter in Argentina.

Andy Freire is one of those rare individuals with exceptional entrepreneurial spirit

[expand title=”In detail”] Andy has a Licenciatura in Economics magna cum laude from the University of San Andrés in Buenos Aires and an OPM from Harvard Business School. He has been the recipient of several awards including Entrepreneur of the Year 2001 and winner of one of two prestigious entrepreneurship awards at the World Young Business Achiever contest. He also has his own TV programme on CNN. Andy previously worked in Procter & Gamble in the finance department and then founded and led Officenet, a company that revolutionized the industry of office-supply distribution in Latin America and grew from one to almost a thousand employees in a 4-year span.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Andy offers decision makers invaluable pointers designed specifically to help companies and individuals alike recognise potential markets and then focus on these markets to generate, and more importantly, maintain growth, productivity and profits. He has participated as a motivational speaker at several events worldwide including the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]A dynamic speaker Andy Freire packs his talks with essential information and useful insights designed specifically to help companies increase profits and sales. With thought provoking examples, using case studies and drawing from his own experience, Andy delivers powerful, refreshing keynotes that leave the audience with actionable recommendations on how to imbed their companies with an “entrepreneurial spirit” and unleash their people’s talents.[/expand]
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Leading World Expert on Knowledge Management & Intellectual Capital (IC)

Leif Edvinsson is probably best known as the first Chief Knowledge Officer in the world as he served as Corporate Director for Intellectual Capital, Skandia AFS and architect of the Skandia Future Centre. He currently serves as Professor of Intellectual Capital, University of Lund, and the founder and CEO of UNIC – Universal Networking Intellectual Capital AB. He is also special advisor to the Swedish Cabinet on the effects of the new digital economy, a special advisor to the United Nations International Trade Center and is a co-founder of the Swedish Coalition of Service Industries.

In 1998 he won the prestigious Brain of the Year Award and in 2000 he was listed on the top 20 list of the Most Admired Knowledge Leaders in the World

[expand title=”In detail”] Leif Edvinsson holds an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author for numerous articles on the service industry and on Intellectual Capital. His first book ‘Intellectual Capital’ has been praised worldwide as the best resource on how to recognise the value of a company’s intellectual assets, which Edvinsson argues, can far exceed the value of its physical assets. In light of his work in both training and Intellectual Capital, Edvinsson has been a special advisor on service trade to the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Leif tackles the challenges of maximising corporate brainpower, a topic which will occupy many of the best business minds in the coming years. He also highlights to his audiences the properties of Intellectual Capital from Knowledge Management, how to measure Intellectual Capital and how to actively manage it, from R&D to education, IT and software. He is a regular speaker before such organisations as the BBC, CIO, Conference Board, Economist, Handelsblatt, Insead, IMD and the American Productivity and Quality Center.[/expand]
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Director of The World Competitiveness Yearbook and Professor at IMD Business School & University of Lausanne

Stéphane Garelli is a Professor at both the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), and at the University of Lausanne, Director of The World Competitiveness Yearbook, the most renowned annual analysis of the competitiveness of nations and a reference for government and business leaders around the world

“Competitiveness thrives on unleashing a higher level of ambition everywhere in the firm”

[expand title=”In detail”] Chairman of the Board of Directors of “Le Temps”, he was formerly Chairman of the Board of the Sandoz Financial and Banking Holding, and member of the board of the Banque Edouard Constant.

The author of numerous publications in the field of competitiveness, international trade and investments, he is also a columnist in several magazines. He was permanent senior adviser to the European management of Hewlett-Packard, and before that Managing Director of the World Economic Forum and of the Davos Symposium. He is a member of a number of institutes, such as: China Enterprise Management Association, Board of the ‘Fondation Jean Monet pour l’Europe’, The Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences, The Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce and the Mexican Council for Competitiveness[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Closely connected to the world of business he is an authority on World Competitiveness and his research focuses particularly on how nations and enterprises compete in international markets.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]With meticulous preparation Stéphane’s fact filled presentations are rich with detail, acumen and invaluable insights.[/expand]
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Personal Development Specialist, Respected Author

Nigel Risner is a human development specialist and peak performance coach, whose high-energy message leads individuals and organisations to incredible success. He delivers over a hundred talks a year in his unique, energetic style to corporations and associations such as The Academy for Chief Executives, The Institute of Directors, Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC, T-Mobile, Asda, BP and many others.

“Speaker of the Year 2005” The Academy for Chief Executives and Vistage

[expand title=”In detail”] As one of the youngest CEO’s of a financial services company in the City of London, Nigel knows business as well as he knows life and more importantly, he knows what it takes to lead a successful business! He has the ability to translate his hands-on experience into a coherent, compelling and exciting philosophy, which has made him an inspiring speaker and a powerful professional one-to-one coach to some of the world’s leading business executives.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Nigel shows companies how to achieve market leadership through specific strategies designed to build long-term customer loyalty, sales, and relationship-building skills. Nigel is about empowerment: “Think bigger”, he urges, “figure out what needs to be done beyond the confines of your job description and do it!”[/expand]
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Author, Business Consultant, Innovation Expert

Robert B. Tucker is recognised internationally as a leading authority on innovation. He is an accomplished best-selling author, founder and president of The Innovation Resource, a research and management consulting firm based in Santa Barbara, California, devoted exclusively to assisting companies seeking to improve top and bottom line performance via systematic innovation. He has been a consultant and keynote speaker since 1986.

“Companies that master innovation will inherit the future.”

[expand title=”In detail”] Formerly an adjunct professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, Tucker has been studying innovators and innovative companies since 1981. As one of the thought leaders in the growing Innovation Movement, Tucker is a frequent contributor to publications such as the Journal of Business Strategy, Strategy & Leadership, and Harvard Management Update. He has appeared on PBS, CBS News, and was a featured guest on the CNBC series The Business of Innovation.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Robert’s tailor made presentations facilitate out of the box ideation sessions and enable companies to implement management systems ideally suited to their needs. He shows clients how to make innovation a systematic and ongoing process that will dominate their future. He is a much sought after keynote speaker at conventions, company management meetings, and industry conferences. Clients include over 200 of the Fortune 500 companies as well as clients in Europe, the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Australia.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]A highly accomplished speaker, articulate and to the point, Robert is highly professional and his expertise spans all aspects of e-commerce, globalisation and technology revolution.[/expand]
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Global Strategist, Entrepreneur & Author of Co-Opetition

Barry Nalebuff is widely known for his ground-breaking work in game theory and strategy, on changing mind-sets and realising the value of collaborating and forming alliances with the traditional competitor.

In combining the advantages of both competition and co-operation, you achieve Co-Opetition, the well-known phrase coined by Barry and the title of his groundbreaking co-authored book. The first economist to apply Game Theory to Business and Politics, Barry reveals to audiences how this revolutionary mindset is a pioneering, high profit means of leveraging business relationships – for any company intent on becoming or remaining the leader in its field.

[expand title=”In detail”] Barry is Milton Steinbach Professor at the Yale School of Management, where he teaches competitive strategy; mergers and acquisitions; political-economic marketing; and game theory and decision-making. Prior to Yale, Barry Nalebuff was an assistant professor at Princeton University (1985-89) and a junior fellow of the Society of Fellows at Harvard University (1982-85). [/expand]
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Serial Entrepreneur and Dragon’s Den Panellist

James Caan is one of the UK’s most successful and dynamic entrepreneurs and built up a multi-million pound fortune from Recruitment. He is the CEO and Founder of Hamilton Bradshaw, a private equity firm which specialises in turnarounds and development opportunities in the UK and Europe. He is also Chairman of the Board of StartUp Loans, a scheme to give the next generation of entrepreneurs the finance and support to potentially start over 30,000 new businesses.

“One of the 100 most influential Asian people in Britain” Asian Power 100

[expand title=”In detail”] In 2007, James was invited to join the panel of the highly popular BBC TV show Dragons’ Den. During his time on the show, James invested in a diverse range of businesses. James founded the Alexander Mann Group in 1985, an executive head hunting firm with a turnover of £300m and operations in 50 countries which he sold in 2002. James also co-founded Humana International growing the business to over 147 offices across 30 countries from 1993-1999. James and his companies have received a number of awards, from BT’s Enterprise of the Year to PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Entrepreneur of the Year.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]James is a highly respected figure in the business world and in particular he understands the challenges facing SME’s and entrepreneurs in the UK today. James has a unique approach to spotting investment opportunities and building businesses by investing in people, he knows what it takes to succeed at the very highest level. He provides talks that are not only inspiring and energetic but most importantly, he draws on his own experiences and leaves his audiences completely motivated. [/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]James is an exceptional and charismatic public speaker. His pragmatic, yet warm and impartial approach appeals to a wide range of people and is regularly in demand for his business insight and advice.[/expand]

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World’s foremost expert on cyber and computer security

Kevin Mitnick is a well-known computer security expert. He first gained notoriety when was arrested by the FBI on February 15, 1995 and was convicted of wire fraud and of breaking into the computer systems of Fujitsu, Motorola, Nokia, and Sun Microsystems. He served five years in prison and was released on January 21, 2000. He subsequently went on to become the world’s foremost expert on cyber and computer security.

“Security is not a product that can be purchased off the shelf, but consists of policies, people, processes, and technology.”

[expand title=”In detail”] Kevin has written two books ‘The Art of Deception’ and ‘The Art of Intrusion’ focusing on real stories of security exploits. Nowadays he offers security consulting services and is a regular guest on television and radio and at leading security conferences around the world.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Using concrete examples, Kevin Mitnick shows what your business can do to develop a creative and engaging security program that heightens awareness, motivates employees to change their attitudes, influences them to think defensively, and encourages the adoption of good security habits.[/expand]
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CEO Birds Eye Iglo Group

Martin Glenn was appointed CEO of the Birds Eye Iglo Group in November 2006. Previously he was President of PepsiCo UK, one of the UK’s leading soft drinks and snack food manufacturers, where he is acclaimed for creating a new uplifting corporate image for the company. Martin was President of Walkers Snack Foods, whom he joined in 1992, working his way up from Director of New Product Development, Vice-President of Marketing to become Walkers President in 1998, and PepsiCo UK President in 2003.

“An average plan well executed beats a brilliant plan done poorly”

[expand title=”In detail”] Martin was awarded the Prince of Wales Ambassador Award in recognition of his work in this area. He was Marketing Week’s Chief Executive of the Year in 2003 and in July 2004 Martin was voted the UK’s most influential marketer by Marketing Magazine.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Martin offers audiences a wealth of insight into marketing and branding strategies and explains the importance of innovative marketing techniques and how to achieve that all important customer brand loyalty.[/expand]
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