The Leading Speakers Bureau

Science Writer, Geneticist and Broadcaster

Adam Rutherford is a science writer and broadcaster. A former geneticist at University College London, where he studied the development of the eye, he now presents the weekly BBC Radio 4 science programme, Inside Science, as well as many award-winning television and radio series, also for the BBC.

“Renowned expert on the origin of life, genetic engineering and synthetic biology”

[expand title=”In detail”] Adam lectures extensively at UCL, where he has an Honorary Fellowship, and in public all around the world, including prestigious events such as the Douglas Adam’s Memorial Lecture, the British Humanist Association’s Darwin Day Lecture, The BFI, the Hay Festival, and the Cheltenham Literary and Science Festivals. He co-authored a study on the effects of video games on adolescents and violence in 2016.Adam’s background is in genetics and evolution. He did a PhD at the Institute of Child Health and Great Ormond St Hospital, studying the role of genes involved in the development of the eye. He worked at the science journal Nature, during which time he launched and presented the award-winning Nature Podcast.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Adam’s latest book, ‘A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived’ is the story of the whole of human history, retold with DNA as a text, everyone and everything from Neanderthals to serial killers, from redheads to race, dead kings to plague, evolution to epigenetics. Richard Dawkins described it as ‘well-written, stimulating and entertaining. What’s more important, he consistently gets it right.’[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Adam is an engaging speaker who always tailors his talks to ensure client’s needs.[/expand]

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World Record Holding Adventurer & TV Broadcaster

Mark Beaumont has become a household name through his documentaries about ultra endurance and adventure. Best known for smashing the circumnavigation and Africa cycling World Records, as well as surviving capsize mid Atlantic. His epic documentaries have taken viewers to over 100 countries, into the Arctic, the high mountains and around the Commonwealth, also presenting the BBC’s coverage in the build up to the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

““Mental toughness, a depth of experience and most importantly a wry sense of humour are my greatest weapons when faced with adversity”

[expand title=”In detail”] Mark Beaumont’s first taste of adventure was at the age of 11, when he decided to cycle across Scotland and he first made fame aged 23 for an 18,000 mile round-the-world bike race, where he smashed the previous World Record by a staggering 82 days. In 2015 Mark rode the length of Africa at a pace of 160 miles a day, taking 18 days off the previous best. Off the bike, he has ocean rowed through the high Arctic and survived after capsizing whilst rowing the Atlantic. Mark was named Top Scot in 2011 and has received an Honorary Doctorate in Law, The University of Dundee.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Mark is passionate about sharing his and others stories, and is an experienced and hugely engaging speaker, having held Ambassadorial roles with companies for the last decade, and completed national speaking tours in the UK and internationally

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[expand title=”How he presents”] Whether engaged as a keynote speaker or in a business-mentoring role, Mark thrives on breaking down his blueprint for success in a way that helps teams and individuals. Accessible, modest, but always inspiring, is Marks style of communication.

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Anthropologist, Explorer& Presenter

Sarah Begum is an Anthropologist-Explorer. In 2010 she became the youngest female documentarian at 21 years of age to produce her first film in the Amazon Rainforest. There, she lived with the Huaorani tribe, immersed in their culture; hunting and gathering with warriors.

“Explore the world adventure, investigate exciting stories & help people along the way”

[expand title=”In detail”] Sarah has been exploring the world, studying tribes and their different ways of life whilst investigating the impacts of oil exploitation on their land and how modernity affected their way of life. In 2014, Sarah partnered with Russ Malkin to set up The Adventuress Club, a platform to connect, share, empower and encourage women through the world of adventure. Sarah’s achievements include winning the “Spirit of Adventure Award” from the Captain Scott Society 2014 for her next big expedition, finalist of the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship Award 2014, highly commended by The Adventure Fund in association with Sidetracked magazine.[/expand]

[expand title=”What she offers you”]Sarah delivers ground breaking interesting content from her adventures around the world including documentaries, humanitarian missions, anthropological studies on indigenous tribes and surviving some of the most dangerous parts of the world.

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[expand title=”How she presents”]Sarah’s presentations inform, educate, entertain and inspire people about the world. She is in great demand as a speaker around the globe by audiences eager to hear her inspirational message. [/expand]

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Best-Selling Author and Former Politician

Jeffrey Archer is a former politician, a serving Member of the House of Lords, and a worldwide bestselling writer. Jeffrey has written sixteen novels, six sets of short stories, three plays (all of which have been performed in London’s West End), three children’s book, two screenplays and a Gospel. He is published in more than 97 countries and 37 languages, and has international sales passing 250 million copies.

Jeffrey Archer is one of the world’s most successful storytellers

[expand title=”In detail”] Jeffrey ran a successful campaign for Mayor of London for two and a half years, from 1997 and was selected as the official Conservative Party Candidate for London’s Mayor in October 1999 by an overwhelming majority; in November that same year, he withdrew his candidacy, having been charged with perjury and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. He was sentenced to 4 years imprisonment, and was released in July 2003 having served two years.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Jeffrey is able to share his unique knowledge and experiences and inspire a crowd. His talks focus on his life, politics and the elements necessary to write a bestseller.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]With a wealth of anecdotes Jeffrey’s presentations are both entertaining and inspiring making him highly sought-after at events across the country.[/expand]

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Journalist, Historian& Author

Rutger Bregman is a journalist and one of Europe’s most prominent young thinkers. He has published four books on history, philosophy, and economics. His ‘History of Progress’ was awarded the Belgian Liberales prize for best nonfiction book. He has twice been nominated for the European Press Prize.

“The Dutch wunderkind of new ideas” – The Guardian

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Who are the visionaries who drive human progress? The answer, as we all know, is the geeks, the free spirits and the crazy dreamers, who turn their noses up at authority. ‘Utopia for Realists’ originated on The Correspondent, an online journalism platform in Amsterdam that serves as an antidote to the daily news grind. The Correspondent got its start in the spring of 2013 with a record-breaking crowd funding campaign. Since then, members get to read and share quality pieces that provide context for interpreting other news stories and the world around us. Journalists in turn benefit from a ready network of member expertise.The stories emerging from this unique online collaboration are changing journalism.
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[expand title=”What he offers you”]Our day-to-day reality – life expectancy, health, wealth, and education were considered unrealistic and utopian in the eighteenth century. So, what’s next? Rutgerexplores how utopian ideals like a basic living income and a fifteen-hour work week could become a reality in our lifetime.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Rutger’s transformational thinking bursts with hope and optimism, and will revolutionise your perspective on welfare, money, and society.[/expand]

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Photographer & Blogger

Brandon Stanton is an American photographer and blogger. He is most known as the founder of Humans of New York, a popular photojournalistic work that has over 17.2 million likes on Facebook and around 4.6 million followers on Instagram as of January 2016. Since 2010, Brandon has taken hundreds of street photographic portraits of ordinary people living and working primarily in New York City, accompanied by snippets of conversations about their lives.

“One of Time Magazine’s 30 Under 30 People Changing The World”

[expand title=”In detail”] Brandon studied History at the University of Georgia. In 2010, he bought a camera while working as a bond trader in Chicago and started taking photographs on the weekends. When he lost his job, he decided to pursue photography full-time. Moving to New York, he set out to photograph 10,000 New Yorkers and plot their portraits on a map of the city. ’Humans of New York’ reached number 1 position on the NYT Non-Fiction Best Sellers and remained on the list for 26 weeks, again reaching the number one position a year after being published.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Coming from a very humble background and having interest in almost everything surrounding him, Brandon is a house of wisdom from the new generation. His work provides the story that a normal human would miss and intrigues a thought provoking process. His talks are elaborate, informative and interesting. [/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Unconventional with an extraordinary ability to see daily situations with a different eye, Brandon leaves his audiences surprised, engaged and full of energy.[/expand]

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Award-Winning Journalist

John Pomfret is an award-winning journalist and writer who has divided his time between the US, China, Europe, Africa and the Middle East since the 1980s. He has been a foreign correspondent for fifteen years. He currently is the editor of the Post’s Outlook section and is the newspaper’s expert on immigration.

“Renowned expert on China and immigration”

[expand title=”In detail”] John was one of the first American students to study in China following the Sino-American rapprochement and he has been a correspondent in China for the Associated Press and The Washington Post, from the late 1980s until the early 2000s.He has won numerous journalism awards for his work in China and in Washington. For the past five years, John has devoted himself to the first narrative history of America’s relationship with China from the 18th century until the present day. He is the author of the 2006 best-seller, ‘Chinese Lessons: Five Classmates and the Story of the New China’. Selected as one of the best books of the year 2006 by The Washington Post, ‘Chinese Lessons’ won the prestigious Shorenstein Prize for Coverage of Asia in 2007 and was a finalist for the 2007 Kiriyama Prize.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]John puts vivid human faces on the complex changes overtaking China. He offers audiences unrivalled familiarity with all aspects of the new China, from its social life and politics to the meteoric emergence of its business community and market economy.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]John is a relaxed, engaging and articulate speaker. He tailors each presentation to the needs of his audience. [/expand]

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Travel Writer, Journalist & Founder of Adventure Travel Film Festival

Lois Pryce is an author, public speaker and journalist who has written for the Guardian, Telegraph, Independent, New York Times and CNN.She is also a co-founder of the Adventure Travel Film Festival, which takes place annually in the UK and Australia.

“One of Ten Great Female Travellers”
The Telegraph

[expand title=”In detail”] It all started in 1986 after setting off with three school friends on a week’s ride around Cornwall… WITH NO GROWN-UPS!,sleeping in farmers’ barns and living in fear of nothing except the spiders that crawled out of the hay bales. Fifteen years later, Lois found herself working in the music department of the BBC in London. In 2003 Lois left her job at the BBC in London to ride her motorcycle from Alaska to the tip of South America. Upon her return she wrote the book of this trip, ‘Lois on the Loose’, which was published in the USA and the UK and translated into several languages.In 2006 she set off from London to motorcycle the length of Africa, taking in the Sahara, the Congo and Angola. Her second book, ‘Red Tape & White Knuckles’ is the story of this adventure.In 2013/14 she made two solo tours of Iran on her motorcycle which is the subject of her latest book, ‘Revolutionary Ride’.[/expand]

[expand title=”What she offers you”]Whether you’re lookingto motivate your employees with a true-life tale of achieving your dreams, learning from Lois’ insights into risk or diversity or you’re simply after some unique after-dinner yarns, Lois’ presentations can be tailored to your specific requirements, and no group is too large or too small.[/expand]

[expand title=”How she presents”]Her talks and presentations about her adventures have garnered a reputation for being both inspirational and entertaining, and have taken her around the world to a diverse range of clients.[/expand]

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Novelist & Screenwriter

Helen Fielding is an English novelist and screenwriter, best known as the creator of the fictional character Bridget Jones, and a sequence of novels and films beginning with the life of a thirty-something singleton in London trying to make sense of life and love.

“The face behind Bridget Jones”

[expand title=”In detail”] ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’ and ‘Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason’were published in 40 countries and sold more than 15 million copies. The two films of the same name achieved international success. ‘Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy’was published with record-breaking first-day sales in the UK. Late 2016 saw the release of the third movie: Bridget Jones’s Baby. Helen studied English at St Anne’s College, Oxford and was part of the Oxford revue at the 1978 Edinburgh Festival and began work at the BBC in 1979 as a regional researcher on the news magazine Nationwide. In 1985 Helen produced a live satellite broadcast from a refugee camp in Eastern Sudan for the launch of Comic Relief.From 1990 – 1999 she worked as a journalist and columnist on several national newspapers and The Telegraph.[/expand]

[expand title=”What she offers you”]An experienced media personality and creator of “Bridget Jones”, Helen shares her experiences of becoming one of the worlds’ most read authors. With humour she approaches many human angles of communication and her motto is“keep it real” as well as “rather human than perfect”. [/expand]

[expand title=”How she presents”]A charismatic and charming personality, Helen loves being on the platform. She is a true professional and always well prepared. She prefers short presentations followed by lengthy interaction with her audience. Humour is her trademark. [/expand]

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Photographer, Documentary Filmmaker, Diver andAuthor

Doug Allan is a freelance wildlife and documentary cameraman who films both topside and underwater. He has been captivating audiences across the UK with his sell-out tours, sharing his extraordinary filming challenges and successes.

“An Award-Winning Natural History Photographer”

[expand title=”In detail”] Doug’s photographic awards include seven Emmys, four BAFTAs and five Wildscreen Pandas. He spent seven years in Antarctica as a research diver, marine biologist, base commander and photographer for the British Antarctic Survey, receiving both the Polar Medal and the Fuchs Medal for his science and support work. In 1984 he changed direction to full time filming.In his 30 year filming career, he’s been involved with more than 65 films, freelancing for the BBC, Discovery, National Geographic and others. He was principal cameraman on many prestigious award-winning series includingOperation Iceberg, Frozen Planet, Ocean Giants, Human PlanetandLife, Planet Earth.Doug has twice won the underwater category in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Dough shares with audiences worldwide his experiences while film making and the craft of nature photography. Doug’s legendary expertise in Polar Regions and other extreme environments make him a charismatic guest speaker at educational institutions, corporate events and on expedition cruise trips.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Doug customiseshis presentations so they are suitable for any audience of any age. All are lavishly illustrated with slides that he has taken during his travels. [/expand]

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