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.

Alex Macqueen is an actor, best known for his roles as Julius Nicholson in the BBC’s Thick Of It and Neil’s Dad in the Channel 4 comedy The Inbetweeners. He was a member of the National Youth Theatre and President of the Cambridge University Theatre Company, before qualifying as a Barrister at the Middle Temple. In 2017, he was elected by the Inn as a Master of The Bench.

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.

During his time as Chief of Defence he successfully concluded combat operations in Afghanistan. He was the prime military architect of the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review, helping to secure the 2% GDP financial settlement for UK Defence. He was also instrumental in the strategic recalibration of UK military commitment to meet the multiple demands of ideologically inspired terrorism, a more assertive Russia and a far less stable global context. In August 2016 General Houghton became the 160th Constable of the Tower of London, but he remains closely involved in Security and Defence issues.

In four years as Foreign Secretary William dealt with a turbulent period encompassing wars in Libya and Syria, withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Ukraine crisis, the struggle against terrorism and relations with Europe. He expanded Britain's diplomatic network and placed a renewed emphasis on export success. William also led the negotiating team that created coalition government in 2010. His mix of international and domestic experience has given him a deep knowledge of the inside of politics and the reasons for growing instability in world affairs.

Widely regarded as one of Britain’s greatest-ever skiers, Chemmy Alcott is a four-time Winter Olympian who has defied the odds in sport and life to inspire the world and show people that anything is possible when they’re willing to take risks. She represented Team GB throughout her 20-year sporting career, during which she became the eighth ranked skier in the world and the first British ski racer to win a run in the World Cup.

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.

Alongside Sunday Times responsibilities and columns in Professional Investor and Industrial Review, David is a prolific book-writer. In speeches David likens low oil prices to a major tax cut, and distinguishes between good (UK) and possibly bad (Eurozone) deflation. He might also reveal the latest findings of his own Skip Index, a reliable indicator of the state of the domestic economy.

Robert Hannigan is a leading authority on cyber security, cyber conflict and the application of technology in national security. He is an international speaker and contributing author on cyber security topics. Currently, Robert serves as Chairman of BlueVoyant International, a global cybersecurity services firm. He is a Senior Adviser to McKinsey & Co and advises a number of international companies on cyber security. Prior to moving into the private sector, Robert served as Director of GCHQ, the UK’s largest intelligence and security agency. Robert has a long history of involvement in cyber security and technology, having drawn up the UK’s first Cyber Security Strategy and outlined the government’s ambition of making the UK ‘the safest place to live and do business online’. He set up the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre as part of GCHQ and launched the active cyber defense program for the UK in 2016. He was responsible with military colleagues for the UK’s national offensive cyber programme.

Martin McCourt has spent over 40 years working at the heart of British-based manufacturing, design and marketing for quality brands such as Dyson, Mars, Duracell, Toshiba and Pelikan. Martin was the CEO of Dyson for 15 years, the ideas to market-leading consumer products maker. As CEO, he devised and implemented a strategy that transformed the company from a single product, single market producer into one where 80% of the business came from over 60 markets around the world. In that time he increased UK skilled jobs, grew profits to over £300m and enabled James Dyson to keep on inventing. In 2011 Dyson hit £1 bn revenue for the first time. Martin was directly responsible for the establishment of Dyson subsidiaries in the USA, Japan, Switzerland, Austria and Germany. In total he took Dyson into over 60 markets, achieving market leadership in the majority including the USA.

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.

Sir John Sawers is the former chief of the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS or MI6). “Tall, dashing, and an astute judge of character…[he] could indeed be a character out of Ian Fleming.” Sawers draws from his personal experience in managing the most challenging foreign and security policy issues of the last 20 years, including the rise of China, the evolution of Russia, the threat of cyber attack, the changes in the Middle East, and the nuclear negotiations in Iran. His is a powerful look at the forces and key players shaping the world and how organizations can make it work for them.