Polar explorer, TED speaker, and record-breaking long-distance skier Ben Saunders fuses the spirit of adventure with impressive technical ingenuity. He has five North Pole expeditions under his belt and is best known for leading one of the most ambitious expeditions in a century. Humble and self-effacing, he is an explorer of limits and his message is one of inspiration, empowerment, and boundless potential. He explores the dichotomy between ideas and action and urges audiences to consider carefully how to spend the “tiny amount of time we each have on this planet.”

Recognised as “the man who fixes businesses” Kevin Gaskell has an impressive track record in building and leading successful companies. As CEO of Porsche, Lamborghini, and BMW, Gaskell led hugely successful turnarounds that are pointed to as examples of how to successfully transform companies and position them for long-term success. His energy and leadership have helped companies to achieve world-class levels of customer service and financial performance, and he speaks with electricity about using inspired leadership to achieve incredible results.

Sir John Scarlett KCMG OBE served as chief of the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS or MI6) from 2004–2009. Over his more than 20 years at MI6, he served in Nairobi, Paris, and twice in Moscow, as well as several assignments in London covering the Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe, and the Soviet Union. In 2001 he retired from SIS on appointment as chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) in the Cabinet Office. He rejoined SIS as head of the service in 2004. Scarlett is an expert on geopolitics as well as crisis management, global security, and leadership.

Hamish Taylor has an award winning record of driving innovation and change in a number of very different environments and is one of the world’s leading experts in Innovation/Change, Customer Focus/Brand Management and Performance. He was trained in brand management at Procter & Gamble, became head of Brands at British Airways, before becoming CEO of Eurostar and CEO of Sainsbury's Bank. In each case, he left behind a record of significant growth/turnarround triggered by a willingness to challenge industry/organisation norms and place the customer at the core of all activities.

Jim Lawless is one of the most popular inspirational speakers in Europe and the only authority on personal development to have put his life on the line to prove his approach. The author of Taming Tigers, he transformed himself to test his theories on mental toughness and in the process broke the British free-diving record. He became the first Briton to pass the magic 100m barrier on a single breath. Lawless shares his proven theories and inspires audiences to their best.

Steven Van Belleghem is a thought leader on the transformation of customer relations and the future of marketing. In 2012, Steven founded the inspiration company B-Conversational. He gives strategic advice to companies around the globe, helping them better understand the world of conversations, social media and digital marketing. In addition, he also helps clients set up long-term inspirational programs to change the mindset and enrich the knowledge of their teams. Steven started his professional career in 2000 as a research assistant at the Vlerick Business School, where he remains a guest marketing professor to this day. He is an expert in guiding companies through the smart usage of technology in the customer relationship, without forgetting the human side of business. In 2001, Steven became one of the first employees to join InSites Consulting, an innovative start-up in the online research industry. Over the next eleven years, he worked his way up to become one of the company’s managing partners and shareholders. During this period, the company grew from just 8 staff to 130 with branches in 5 countries. Steven is a best-selling author of business books. His latest, titled “When Digital becomes Human” (2014), describes the need to digitise the customer relationship without forgetting the human aspect. He believes that today’s world not only needs a digital transformation; the human side of business is also in need of a makeover. His two previous books, “The Conversation Manager” (2010) and “The Conversation Company” (2012), are award-winning best-sellers with more than 50,000 copies sold.

In a recent poll casted by the British magazine Prospect, Lamy was among the top 50 of the world’s leading thinkers. He is also ranked among the 100 most influential thinkers of the “Thought leader Map 2015” published by the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute.

Albert Read has launched and led businesses for Condé Nast in the UK, and across Europe and Asia, overseeing titles such as Vogue, GQ, Wired, Condé Nast Traveller and Vanity Fair. A former journalist, he has written for The Spectator, the TLS, the Times and the Telegraph.  He studied Classics at New College, Oxford and has an MBA from INSEAD.  He lives in West London with his wife and three children.

Ash Alexander-Cooper OBE is a former Specialist Military Unit Colonel in the British Armed Forces and a former Partner at McChrystal Group - an elite advisory services firm that builds agile teams and enables clients to adapt to their complex operating environments. Ash was a Partner in McChrystal Group's London, England office, where he focused on expanding the firm’s offerings and developing relationships with European clients. With a focus on leader development, talent management, and team-building solutions, Ash draws upon lessons learned from over 22 years of experience leading and managing diverse multinational military, civilian government and other elite teams.

Kate Ancketill is the brains and driving force behind GDR Creative Intelligence, a globally recognised consultancy focused on innovation and emerging trends in retail, leisure and hospitality around the world. World-renowned, dynamic and commercially successful, Ancketill won the Jennifer d’Abo Memorial Scholarship for female entrepreneurs in 2007 and was selected as one of the UK’s top 100 in the Courvoisier Future 500 in 2009.

Daniel Hughes has spent the last 15 years leading and making decisions in high pressure and often environmentally hostile environments. He describes himself as a “determined problem solver, who builds teams to succeed”. He previously has been a Special Forces Instructor, Great Britain Athlete and in 2013 built a team of 268 for him to deliver the world’s highest video broadcast from the summit of Mt Everest to the BBC Newschannel. Hughes is a current 787 pilot and as the founder of Reignite Consulting, he globally delivers Management Development programmes to executive teams and helps organisations establish or reaffirm their vision and values.

Sir Ranulph Fiennes was, with Charles Burton, the first man to reach both poles by surface travel and, with Mike Stroud, the first to cross the Antarctic Continent unsupported.