The Leading Speakers Bureau

Former Premier League Football Referee, Technical Director of PGMOL

Howard Webb is a former English football referee who operated in the Premier League and has been a FIFA-listed referee since 2005. He became a household name when he officiated as a referee during the 2010 FIFA World Cup, including the final, in South Africa. He has gone on to become one of the country’s top respected referees in the domestic football premiership and with FIFA for international duties. Howard has retired from his distinguished referee career after being appointed Technical Director of Professional Game Match Officials Limited in 2014.

“One of the world’s top football referees”

[expand title=”In detail”] In 2007 Howard was selected as England’s representative to referee in UEFA Euro 2008. He has also officiated in the following competitions – European under 21 Championship, FA Cup Final, Carling Cup Final, FIFA under 21 World Cup, UEFA Euro 2008 and Superliga in North America. 2010 has been a high profile year for Howard –he was the referee at the Champions League Final and one of 14 European referees (and the only British representative) to officiate at the FIFA World Cup in South Africa. [/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Howard is a fascinating motivational speaker as in choosing to be a referee, he is no stranger to controversy and in his presentation he provides a thought provoking insight into a world where making an impact is part of the game. He talks about how referees face intense scrutiny at all times and the pressures of having only seconds to weigh up facts and make the right decision, and the immense pressure of being under the spotlight of the media circus.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Howard’s ability to tell his story in a very grounded, simple and authentic way enables him to touch everyone in his audience. [/expand]

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BBC’s Security Correspondent

Frank Gardner is BBC’s security correspondent reporting for TV and radio domestic and international security issues, notably on Al Qaeda related terrorism. He was awarded an OBE in June 2005 for services to journalism and released his first book ‘Blood and Sand’ in 2006.

“His work always reflects the true complexities of the stories he reports.”
Vin Ray

[expand title=”In detail”] Frank’s fascination with the Middle East began as a teenager when he had a chance meeting with Wilfrid Thesiger (who extensively travelled and photographed the Middle East). A fluent Arabist with a degree in Arabic and Islamic studies from Exeter University. Frank spent nine years as an investment banker in New York, London and Bahrain before switching to journalism and becoming the BBC’s Middle East correspondent based in Cairo. He has reported extensively on the so-called ‘War on Terror’ in Guantanamo Bay, Yemen, Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East. In 2004 he survived being shot six times at close range by Al Qaeda terrorists in the Riyadh suburb, Saudi Arabia. After many months in hospital he returned to the BBC to resume his job. His book ‘Blood and Sand’ reached number three in the Sunday Times Bestseller List.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Frank draws on his experiences as a security correspondent to offer audiences remarkable accounts of his time in the Middle East. Having witnessed some truly terrifying situations his determination to return to his full and active life makes his story both fascinating and inspirational.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Frank is a good communicator, knows how to handle situations spontaneously and comes across really well.
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Science Communicator, Writer, Educator & Trainer

Emily Grossman is an expert in molecular biology and genetics, with a Double First in Natural Sciences from Queens’ College Cambridge and a PhD in cancer research. She trained as an actress, and now combines her skills as a science broadcaster, public speaker, writer and educator.

“A passionate advocate for gender equality in science”

[expand title=”In detail”] Emily can be seen on the panel of experts for Sky 1’s celebrity panel-show, Duck Quacks Don’t Echo andshe is a regular contributor to Discovery Channel’s How Do They Do It?She spent a season as the resident science expert on ITV’s The Alan Titchmarsh Show and she has appeared as a biology expert on Channel 4’s Food Unwrappedand as a maths examiner on BBC1’s The One Show. She has also been interviewed on This Morning, BBC Breakfast, CNN, and Sky News. Emily has presented a series of fun videos for the Royal Institution; one of them, How to Stop Yourself Being Ticklish, has received over 200,000 hits and was featured on Radio 2’s Jo Whiley Showand the independent’s i100 top 100 trending videos.[/expand]

[expand title=”What she offers you”]Emily regularly delivers talks and fun workshops in schools, universities and at live events. She speaks about cutting edge science topics such as stem cells, regenerative medicine, obesity and epigenetics. Emily sharesher thoughts on women in science, gender equality, imposter syndrome, secrets of success, science careers. Emily speaks about maths and the use and abuse of statistics in the media. [/expand]

[expand title=”How she presents”]Emily shares her own personal story, and the importance of feelings in science… and in all areas of life. Emily creates bespoke talks created for any audience[/expand]

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Former design director at Saab Automobile AB and
Mercedes Benz designer

Einar Hareide is a Norwegian industrial designer, leading an award winning studio Hareide Design. Prior to that, he was a design director at Saab Automobile AB and later employed by Mercedes Benz. Since 2002 he has been an Executive Design Adviser for Bogwart AG. Einar has worked with companies from wide range of industries. His clients include Volvo Cars,SJ/Bombardier,
Kongsberg Maritime and Rolls-Royce Marine.

[expand title=”In detail”] Einar has an inspiring story to tell about his journey from a small island on the coast of Norway (Hareid) to end up as design director at Saab utomobile in Sweden at the age of 30. Experiencing first hand the period when Saab was a small car company with a slightly rebellious and a highly respected image to becoming a part of giant General Motors, a modern equivalent of David’s fight against Goliath. Einar started his career as a designer at Saab Automobile in 1986. In 1989 he was employed by Mercedes Benz and was responsible of the design of the 1994 E-Class that became the first Modern Mercedes with round headlamps. In 1991 he was asked to come back to Saab to be in charge of exterior design and in 1994 he was promoted to the position of design director with total responsibility for the exterior, interior and color&trim of all Saab Cars. During that period he was responsible for the design of the new generation of Saab cars that includes the Saab 9-3 series (1993) and Saab 9-5 series (1998). In 1999 He founded Hareide Design. The studio work has been internationally recognized by Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA), and received more than 20 awards.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]How do you create customer value in a world where products are becoming services, how can you get paid for a service that can be for free somewhere else, and how do you create true value to your customers? Einar answers those questions and demonstrates how important is design thinking and creating a culture of innovation that is active instead of re-active. He shows the importance of creating a long-term internal strategy for product and service development without being governed by what the competition is doing. Einar also covers areas connected with IoT (The Internet of Things) and robots entering production (Industry 4:0) and demonstrates how this affects design, production and the human being.

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[expand title=”How he presents”]Einar’s presentations are supported by unique visualization and animation tools, leaving the audience mesmerised and highly inspired. He has held many lectures in both in English, Swedish and Norwegian, to students and universities and to large multi international companies, as well as product launches for the car industry among others.

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BBC Arts Editor

Will Gompertz is the BBC Arts Editor and a respected commentator on The Arts.Voted one of the World’s Top 50 Creative Thinkers by New York’s Creativity Magazine, Will was previously a Director of The Tate Gallery. During his time there, he was responsible for Tate Online – the UK’s most popular art website. He set up a TV production unit, making arts programmes for Channel 4 and ITV and he also created Tate Etc, the UK’s highest-circulation art magazine.

“We’re brought up to be intimidated by art”

[expand title=”In detail”] Will has advised many arts and media organisations and has been a board member of the National Campaign for the Arts. As a writer he has penned numerous articles for, amongst others, The Times and The Guardian. In the summer of 2009, he wrote and performed a one-man show at the Edinburgh Fringe called Double Art History, a light-hearted lecture on the story of modern art.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Will has great passion, experience and knowledge of the arts. He is a great communicator and is full of ideas about how new media can be use more effectively to share arts news with audiences. He gives an introduction to modern art in the guise of a classroom lesson. [/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Will Gompertz’s passion for art is expressed with wit and verve. He is an impressive speaker who makes audiences laugh from the start with his self-deprecating humour, trying to make art funny.
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Hugely Successful F1 Mogul

Ross Brawn OBE is perhaps one of the most successful team principals Formula One has ever seen. Ross has worked with the sport’s leading teams and overseen some of the sport’s most talented drivers.

“Brawn is the most successful technical director in Formula One history”

[expand title=”In detail”] Beginning his career in motorsport at March Engineering in 1976, Ross quickly moved up the ranks before being employed by Sir Frank Williams for the newly formed Williams F1 team. He has worked for a number of Formula One teams notably as the technical director of the championship-winning Benetton Formula and Scuderia Ferrari teams. He took a sabbatical from the sport in 2007, but returned to F1 for the 2008 season as Team Principal of Honda F1. He became the owner of the Brawn GP team, which acquired the Honda team in early 2009. Brawn GP was bought out by Mercedes-Benz in November 2009 in a deal reported to be worth £110m.He retired from the sport at the end of 2013.
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[expand title=”What he offers you”]
Ross Brawn is a hugely knowledgeable motorsport speaker with extensive experience of the technical and physical side of the sport,he will intrigue and enlighten guests in any aspect of what makes Formula One so special.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Ross had enjoyed one of the most illustrious careers ever seen within F1, making him a highly desirable personality to talk at events as a motorsport speaker.[/expand]

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Journalist & Former Vice President Mercedes-Benz Motorsport

Norbert Haug is a German journalist, and the former Vice President of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport, including Formula One, Formula 3 and DTM. Under his direction, Mercedes-Benz enjoyed considerable success in all categories, winning multiple races and championships.

“Business is like Formula 1 – only with many more competitors”

[expand title=”In detail”] For over 22 years, Norbert Haugwas Head of Motorsports at Mercedes-Benz. Under his leadership Mercedes, along with its partner teams, won a total of four Formula 1 Drivers and two Constructors world championship titles between 1998 and 2009. In the DTM (German Touring Car Masters), Mercedes triumphed under Norbert’s leadership between 1991 and 2012 against well-known factory teams like Audi or BMW in more races than all the competitors put together. Mercedes thus became the most victorious brand of the DTM. Out of 900 races in all the key motor sports categories, Mercedes won over 400 under the leadership of Norbert, of which 80 in Formula 1 and 140 in the DTM.
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[expand title=”What he offers you”]In his talks and interviews, Norbert inspires with his authenticity and passion. He isvery skilful at establishing easy to understand analogies between the challenges of motor sports and everyday work.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]An engaging and entertaining speaker, Norbert uses a mix of stories and anecdotes from his career combined with stunning images to challenge and inspire audiences to greater things.[/expand]

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Founder of Datafloq

Mark van Rijmenam is an entrepreneur with a drive for disruptive innovation and Founder of Datafloq,the One-Stop Source for Big Data, connecting all stakeholders within the global Big Data market.He is also founding partner of the Australian think tank The Digital Leadership Initiative and is named a global top 10 Big Data influencer.

“Disruptive change is coming your way”

[expand title=”In detail”] Mark’s objective is to be a catalyst for global innovation and to enable organizations and societies to tackle some of the world’s biggest challenges. Mark believes in sustainable, social and economic responsibility when doing business or creating companies. He encourages the use of the latest trends such as Big Data, Robotics, Virtual reality, Artificial Intelligence, Nanotechnology or 3D printing to change and improve the world and create a better place for all. He is aware of the latest trends in the world that impact organisations.Currently, he is a PhD Candidate at the University of Technology, Sydney.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Mark provides audiences with a glimpse of the future and how your organisation should be ready for it. Using countless inspiring examples of organisations from around the world, Mark provides handles how to deal with Big Data and our changing world.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]His keynote speeches are inspirational and provide the audience a deep understanding about the accelerated change that we are currently experiencing.[/expand]

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Economic Editor of the BBC

Kamal Ahmed is the Economics Editor of the BBC and former Business Editor of the BBC. He leads the BBC’s on air economics coverage and makes regular appearances on the Today programme, the Six and Ten O’clockNews bulletins as well as Newsnight.

“A respected Economic journalist”

[expand title=”In detail”] Kamal joined the BBC from the Telegraph Media Group which he joined in September 2009 as Business Editor of The Sunday Telegraph. Kamal also led the editorial team delivering The Telegraph’s annual Festival of Business, a celebration of medium and smaller sized businesses in the UK.Between 2007 and 2009 Kamal was Group Director, Communications, at the Equality and Human Rights Commission. Before joining the Commission in 2007, Kamal was Executive Editor, News, at The Observer and between 2000 and 2004 he was Political Editor of The Observer covering Tony Blair’s government and the lead up to the Iraq war. Between 1996 and 2000, Kamal worked for The Guardian, starting on the paper as Royal Correspondent, later becoming Media Correspondent and then Media Editor.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Kamal Ahmed has a way of delivering financial, business and economic information which is extremely accessible and insightful on what is happening right now and perhaps what might be around the corner.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Kamal is a thorough and highly informative speaker who is able to present complex issues in an engaging and clear manner[/expand]

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Co- Founder Wonga.com

Jonty Hurwitz is a leading financial and technological innovator and a highly successful entrepreneur. He co-founded Wonga.com in 2007; the multi-award winning online micro-loan company, that grew to a staggering scale in just five years.

“A leading financial and technological innovator”

[expand title=”In detail”] Wonga was voted Europe’s fastest-growing on-line company and won the Sunday TimesTechTrack 100 in 2012.Jonty designed and built the first automated risk processing technology, to provide real-time unsecured personal loans online, including via a mobile app; and also the first company world-wide to provide an instant lending application app on the iPhone. He is a world leading specialist in several areas including consumer risk in the cloud, user interfaces for consumer finance, understanding mobile and internet customer behaviour for finance and cloud based financial computing. Jonty is also a widely collected and exhibited sculptor and artist. He has won several international awards for art, business and technology applying this idea.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Jonty shares with audiences worldwide the rise of robo-advisers and gives tips on how to remain relevant in the digital age. Jonty places significant focus on cultivating an innovative culture in order to be in the forefront of leadership, innovation and technology[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Instrumental in bringing into focus the fact that technological innovation is happening so fast that it’s hard to keep up, Jonty’s high content presentations are delivered in his personal, yet professional style. [/expand]

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