Customer Loyalty & Retention

Joerg Niessing: Expert in Business Transformation, Digital Strategy, Brand Strategy and Customer-Centric Growth Joerg Niessing is a globally recognized expert on customer-centric business transformation, sought after for his ability to bridge academic rigor with hands-on business impact. With deep expertise in digital strategy, branding, marketing, customer experience, and data analytics, Joerg helps organizations to unlock growth by building powerful brands that stand out in highly competitive markets. His cutting-edge research and advisory work are redefining how organizations approach innovation, digital transformation, and business reinvention—enabling them to create future-oriented business models, experiences and strategies. A Senior Affiliate Professor at INSEAD and former Partner at Prophet—one of the world’s leading brand consultancies—Joerg has spent more than 25 years helping top executives from over 300 companies, including Google, L’Oréal, Roche, Ferrero, Walmart, Marriott, Diageo, Electrolux, and Samsung. He specializes in crafting future-proof strategies, building meaningful customer experiences and scaling brands globally—always grounded in robust data and insight. During his time at Prophet, Joerg built and led the firm’s customer insights and analytics practice, helping organizations turn data into actionable strategies. In addition to his work with global enterprises, he actively supports startups in building impactful, purpose-driven businesses. He was the first investor and strategic advisor to Waterdrop, helping shape its brand and drive its expansion into 30+ markets. He also co-founded of vstrat.ai, an AI-powered strategy tool that enables companies to scale the use of proven strategy and branding frameworks, empowering every employee to think and act strategically. At INSEAD, Joerg directs and teaches 30+ top-ranked executive programs each year, focused on business transformation, customer-centricity, branding, and data-driven strategy. His highly interactive and example-rich teaching style has earned him multiple awards, including the “Teaching Excellence Award” in executive education for nine consecutive years. In 2025, Joerg was named the winner of the international Outstanding Case Teacher Award by The Case Centre—a lifetime recognition for innovation and impact in business education. As a keynote speaker, Joerg brings a rare mix of academic depth, real-world examples, business acumen, and engaging storytelling to every session. He speaks regularly at global conferences such as the Mobile World Congress, QSP Summit, and the Chief Marketer Institute Europe, as well as private leadership offsites and corporate events. His keynotes are designed to inspire bold thinking and are packed with insights, examples and practical tools that empower leaders to build brands that create lasting value, energize organizations and drive measurable business impact. Having lived in six countries across Europe, the US, and Asia—and worked in over 40—Joerg brings a truly global perspective, blending European strategic depth with Silicon Valley dynamism. What to Expect Joerg’s sessions are fast-paced, insight-packed, and highly actionable—blending cutting-edge thinking with practical tools and a compelling storytelling approach. Whether engaging senior executives, entrepreneurs, or cross-functional teams, Joerg delivers a powerful mix of strategic frameworks, vivid case studies, and real-world applications grounded in data, innovation, and purpose. Expect to dive deep into how organizations can drive customer-centric transformation and build powerful brands by harnessing the full potential of data, digital technologies, and AI. Joerg explores how leading companies are reinventing their business models, customer experiences, and internal cultures to stay competitive in an era of disruption and rising customer expectations. Rather than treating transformation as a one-off initiative, Joerg challenges participants to embed customer obsession into the DNA of their organization—turning insight into action, and strategy into sustained impact. His sessions connect the dots between strategy, customer-centricity, data & technology, organisation change, and innovation, providing participants with a holistic playbook for transformation that sticks. Because real change requires more than surface-level fixes—Joerg calls out the common pitfall of “putting a digital lipstick on a legacy pig.” His approach cuts through the noise to focus on what truly drives progress: deep, meaningful transformation that starts from within but focussing on creating customer value. What You’ll Leave With You’ll walk away with a refreshed mindset and a strategic playbook f or driving customer-centric transformation—equipping you to lead with clarity, confidence, and impact in a rapidly evolving digital world. Joerg challenges leaders to rethink the fundamentals: “If people want to use WhatsApp, don’t optimize the fax machine.” The point? Transformation is not about incremental tweaks—it’s about reimagining value from the customer’s point of view. You’ll gain deep insight into how to harness data, technology, and AI to create relevant brands, value-driving customer experiences, foster innovation, and build future-ready business models. Key action points include turning customer insight into strategic direction, designing end-to-end experiences that drive engagement and growth, aligning cross-functional teams around the customer, and embedding agility and experimentation into your organization’s DNA. You’ll learn how to connect strategy with execution—translating bold ideas into scalable, real-world impact across functions, markets, and touchpoints. Whether you’re leading a transformation, reimagining customer value, or unlocking new growth opportunities, you’ll leave equipped to act boldly, inspire change, and create organizations that are not only more digital—but deeply customer-first and innovation-driven.

David Avrin, CSP, Global Speaking Fellow One of the most in-demand and charismatic Customer Experience speakers and consultants in the world today, David Avrin, CSP, GSF has shared his content-rich, very entertaining and actionable presentations with enthusiastic audiences and organizations across North America and around the world. Recent presentations include Singapore, Bangkok, Melbourne, Brisbane, Antwerp, Buenos Aires, Bogota, Mumbai, Sri Lanka, Abu Dhabi, Manila, Rotterdam, Barcelona, Monte Carlo, London, Sydney, Vienna, New Delhi, Kuala Lumpur, Johannesburg and Dubai. David helps organizations better understand and serve their changing customers and clients to help future-proof their businesses by becoming ridiculously easy to do business with. David’s business insights have been featured on thousands of media outlets around the world. He is also the author of seven books published in multiple languages including the acclaimed: It’s Not Who You Know, It’s Who Knows You!, Why Customers Leave (and How to Win Them Back) and his newest book: Ridiculously Easy to Do Business With: A practical guide to giving customers what they want—when and how they want it.

Meet Rodney Williams Rodney Williams is the Co-founder of SoLo Funds, the largest community finance platform in the US. Since 2018, SoLo has surpassed 1M loans funded and redefined access to capital and returns for 1.5 million users. As the US’s only Black-led Certified B Corp fintech, SoLo continues its leadership (4x growth 22’ vs 21’), but grounded in the same hope and mission: to build a community that enables financial autonomy for all. Prior to founding SoLo, Rodney founded LISNR (Visa-Backed Fintech) and led the company to numerous awards and partnerships across retail and financial services. He currently serves as the company’s Chairman. LISNR is an ultrasonic data platform that enables secure wireless device-to-device communication for payments, mobility, and connected devices. Some of LISNR’s customers include Lenovo, Jaguar/Land Rover, Ticketmaster, Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter’s company RocNation, and Media Saturn, Amdocs, and the company has commercial partnerships with Visa, Synchrony Financial, DSP Group, and Intel. Prior to founding LISNR, Rodney served multiple brand roles at Proctor and Gamble, most recently as Brand Management – Pampers NA. He began his career as a Financial and Business Development Analyst at Lockheed Martin & Department of Energy. Rodney is a former trustee of the board of directors for the University of Cincinnati, a member of the board of advisors of Howard University, and Chairman of the board and co-founder of Solo Funds, Inc. Rodney has been recognized with numerous awards, including Ad Age’s 40 Under 40 in 2012; the Ernst & Young EDGE Award in 2013; Cannes Gold Lion award in 2015; Tech Entrepreneur of the Year by Black Enterprise, 2016; NAACP Inspiring Innovation list 2017; 25 Inspiring Entrepreneurs Under 40 by Entrepreneur Magazine 2016; Entrepreneur of the Year in Connected World Communications in the Ohio Valley Region by EY in 2017; Ebony’s Power 100 in 2018 and CNBC Disruptor 50 List in 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2023. Rodney attended West Virginia University, earning his BBA in finance, his BA in economics, and his MS in integrated marketing communications. Rodney also holds an MBA in finance and supply chain management from Howard University. He is a member of the 2019 Class of Henry Crown Fellows within the Aspen Global Leadership Network at the Aspen Institute.

Peter Fisk is a global thought leader – author, futurist, speaker – whose career was forged in a superconductivity lab, accelerated by managing supersonic brands, shaped by working with some of the world’s best companies in Europe, North America and Asia, evolved by leading a digital start-up, and formalised as CEO of the world’s largest marketing network. He works with business leaders to reimagine their markets and strategies for a better future. He brings together the best in strategy and innovation, brand and customer thinking to drive smarter, sustainable growth. Peter leads GeniusWorks, an innovative business accelerator, based in London, and is professor of leadership, strategy and innovation at IE Business School in Madrid, where he is responsible for executive programs. He also works independently and with other business schools. He was Thinkers50 Global Director, founded and hosts the annual European Business Forum, and publishes the monthly ”Fast Leader” magazine. He has over 30 years of practical business experience, working with over 300 companies and 55 countries … from Adidas’ growth into new markets to Asahi’s consumer-centric innovation, Cartier’s redefined luxury and Coca Cola’s growth strategy, McKinsey’s leadership development to Microsoft’s new approach to strategic innovation, P&G’s direct to consumer strategy and Pfizer’s future scanning, Santander’s future bank vision and Sompo’s digitally-minded leaders, Takeda’s patient-centric healthcare and Tata’s growth as a global business. Peter’s first book “Marketing Genius” fused the brains of Einstein and Picasso to ask how would they do business today, and was translated into 35 languages. His next 8 books explore the renaissance creativity of Leonardo da Vinci, in “Creative Genius”, how to innovate with purpose for positive impact, in “People Planet Profit”, and learning from the world’s most innovative companies, in “Gamechangers”. His new book “Business Recoded” challenges leaders to have the courage to create a better future, harnessing the opportunities of a post-pandemic world, through 7 shifts built on deep dives with 49 of the world’s most inspiring business leaders today. It is shortlisted for CMI Business Book of the Year 2021, and was reviewed by the Financial Times with “Wow. The book you have to read now”.

Lior Arussy: Championing Transformation – Revolutionizing Customer Experience and Employee Engagement Lior Arussy spent the first part of his career in various executive positions at worldleading firms, such as Hewlett-Packard. It was at this stage that he recognized that the old, traditional methods of change management were flawed, and simple didn’t work for most companies. Lior took it upon himself to create a different methodology – one which recognizes that the key to truly driving a company’s change for success, is in putting its most important resource at the center of its transformational efforts: its employees. The idea being that, in order for customers to choose your product and get the most out of it, you not only have to have an exceptional product, but a great, dedicated, happy team that stands behind that product’s success. Today, Arussy is one of the leading global authorities in the fields of Customer Experience, Employee Engagement, and Strategy Execution. He is a Corporate Culture expert, a ‘success accelerator’, and a proven, passionate change agent. Called “a triple threat of transformation” by William Taylor, co-founder of Fast Company magazine, Arussy has helped many of the world’s top brands achieve unprecedented goals in customer satisfaction, growth, and profitability. Among these are Mercedes-Benz, Johnson & Johnson, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Thomson Reuters, HSBC, E.ON, FedEx, SAP, and the University of Pennsylvania, to name a few. Lior’s methodology enabled Mercedes-Benz to reach the much-coveted #1 position in customer satisfaction. Another client, a European logistics corporation, leaped from 3% annual organic growth to 44% annual organic growth in just two years! In 2003, Arussy founded the Strativity Group, a strategy firm specializing in customer experience consulting, employee engagement programs, journey mapping, and business growth. In addition, Lior has written seven books on business strategy, customer experience optimization, and achieving the ultimate success. He has also written over 300 articles for publications around the world, including the Harvard Business Review, and Chief Executive media, for which he is a regular contributing author. A recipient of numerous awards worldwide, Arussy’s accomplishments, insights, and publications have been cited and recognized by leading media, such as The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, The Times of London, Smart CEO Magazine, ABC, CNBC, Bloomberg TV, and MSNBC. Mr. Arussy currently resides in New Jersey with his wife and five children. He completed his undergraduate degree at Case Western Reserve University, and received his MBA from Weatherhead School of Management. He is a self-professed chocoholic.

Rachel DeAlto is on a mission to connect people to their most powerful resource – each other. A former attorney with a master’s degree in psychology, Rachel is a communication and relatability expert, author, media personality, and researcher who combines her education, expertise, and experience to create a blueprint for leaders and teams to build better connections – and thereafter, better everything. Rachel’s programs are highly interactive, customized, and create the potential for a ripple effect in every area of the audience’s lives. Her signature programs involve a framework that helps people understand themselves, their relationships, and their impact on others. She has trained executives, employees, and teams in a variety of industries around the world: from global Fortune 500 companies to startups, governments to nonprofits. And she does it all with her trademark humor and energy. She is the author of relatable: How to Connect with Anyone Anywhere (Even if It Scares You) and has appeared as an expert on Lifetime’s Married at First Sight and as a guest on over 200+ national media outlets such as Good Morning America, CNN, Fox New, and The Today Show. She also maintains an influential social media presence where she shares psychological research updates and practical takeaways to connect and communicate more efficiently. As a popular keynote speaker, Rachel delivers programs on leadership, the power of connection, customer experience, sales, and communication. Her most recent TEDx Talk, Being Authentic in a Filtered World, was featured on TED.com. A celebrated authority on the topics of connection and relationships, Rachel is also the Chief Connection Officer at Match Group, the largest global portfolio of popular online dating services.

Mark Sanborn: World-Renowned Leadership Expert and Bestselling Author Mark Sanborn, CSP, CPAE, is an international bestselling author and award-winning keynote speaker on leadership, customer service, business growth, and organizational performance. Mark has given more than 3,000 presentations in every US state and in 14 countries. He is a New York Times bestselling author of eight books, including The Fred Factor, which has sold over two million copies worldwide. Mark has developed numerous video and audio training programs, which are currently taught by Crestcom International in 90 countries. He is also the Leadership Expert in Residence at High Point The President of Sanborn & Associates, Inc., an idea lab dedicated to developing leaders in business, Mark has been hailed as one of the top leadership experts in the world. Mark holds the Certified Speaking Professional designation from the National Speakers Association (NSA) and is a member of the Speaker Hall of Fame. He was honored with the Cavett Award, the highest honor the NSA bestows on its members, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the speaking profession. Mark’s list of clients includes renowned brands such as Costco, Enterprise Rent-a-Car, FedEx, Harley-Davidson, Cisco, KPMG, Morton’s of Chicago, New York Life, RE/MAX, ServiceMaster, ESPN, GM, IBM, Avnet, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Sandvik, and John Deere. Mark is married to Darla, and they have two adult sons, Hunter and Jackson. They also have a perpetual puppy named Tini, whose bark is bigger than her bite.

Jim Knight: Rock Star Culture and Leadership Expert Renowned keynote speaker, podcaster, author, and training and development executive Jim Knight teaches organizations of all sizes how to attain their own “rock star” status. Although his illustrious career started at Gatorland, a working alligator farm in Florida (and he has scars to prove it) – Jim cut his teeth in the hospitality training industry and eventually led Global Training for Hard Rock International for two decades. Jim’s customized programs show how to amp up organizational culture, deliver world-class differentiated service, and build rock star teams and leaders. Jim’s role at Hard Rock involved many facets of organizational training including creating and managing all staff and management training materials and programs; facilitating Hard Rock’s Corporate University; overseeing management training locations; producing training videos; directing company e-Learning initiatives; facilitating leadership transitions; and traveling to properties to deliver onsite classes and measure company standards. Jim put his experience and creativity to work, which consistently developed cutting-edge training concepts. During his time with the Hard Rock brand, his team won coveted video Telly Awards (Guest Service in 2000, Menu Rollout in 2007, Harassment & Discrimination Prevention in 2008); garnered Training Directors Forum’s 1998 prize for Reengineering Training; and won Brandon Hall’s Gold Best in Class Award for their Service Recovery e-Learning course. Jim was also recognized by Training Magazine as representing one of the top 125 training companies in the world out of all industries and businesses. He has since been featured in Forbes Magazine, Inc. Magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine, Nation’s Restaurant News, Business News Daily and Fox Business News. He is a lifetime member of CHART (an Association of Hospitality Trainers); previously sat on the Certification Governing Board of the National Restaurant Association; and founded the networking group, The Training Summit (CHART’s 1st Regional Training Forum), which includes over 100 active members in Central Florida to share best practices and discuss common issues with other industry professionals. Jim was also a part of the GOOD Network’s inception. Jim is the Owner & CEO of Knight Speaker, delivering numerous programs worldwide on leadership, organizational culture, customer service, and employee experience. He is also the best-selling author of Culture That Rocks: How to Revolutionize Your Company’s Culture, now in its 3rd edition, which was featured in Entrepreneur Magazine as one of the “5 Books That Will Help You Transform How You Do Business”. Jim’s latest books, Leadership That Rocks: Take Your Brand’s Culture to Eleven and Amp Up Results and Service That Rocks: Create Unforgettable Experiences and Turn Customers into Fans were all Amazon #1 Best Sellers. A portion of Jim Knight’s book sales and speaking proceeds goes to No Kid Hungry to eliminate childhood hunger in the U.S. and Cannonball Kids’ Cancer, which funds innovative, accessible research for children fighting cancer with better treatments, quality of life, and new options for those told they have run out of options.

Danilo McGarry: Driving Growth Through AI and Scalable Innovation Danilo McGarry empowers companies to achieve breakthrough growth through practical AI, reimagined people management, and scalable innovation. With a proven record of increasing company valuations by 5x, Danilo offers organizations an insider’s perspective on the future, fueled by his exclusive access to the technologies and companies that are shaping the global economy. Ranked among the world’s top 20 AI experts and as a TED speaker, he has led transformation for Fortune 500 leaders (he is former Head of Ai at Citigroup and UnitedHealth America’s 5th largest company), blending technical insights with people-centered strategies to help companies navigate and thrive in a rapidly changing landscape. Danilo’s Awards and Accolades The World’s Official Top 20 Artificial Intelligence Speakers 50 Most Powerful AI Influencers World’s Top 200 Business & Technology Innovators Top 50 ML & Data Science Experts to Follow for 2023 Top 25 Generative AI Thought Leaders, Thinkers360 Top 50 Artificial Intelligence Thought Leaders, Thinkers360 Top 10 RPA Thought Leaders, Thinkers360 Top 100 Big Data Thought Leaders, Thinkers360 Top 100 CSR Thought Leaders, Thinkers360 Top 100 FinTech Thought Leaders, Thinkers360 Danilo is open and available to offer: Speeches Workshops Executive coaching on AI, technology, and change management Product launches, announcements, and PR through a 500,000+ subscriber newsletter and extensive social media channels Sponsorship opportunities on a rapidly growing podcast channel focused on AI and technology, with links to various industries and over 200,000 views Attendance at business lunches and dinners with C-level executives Quick 1:1 calls for urgent queries and matters companies may have

Brett King: ‘King of Disruptors’, ‘Godfather of FinTech’ Brett King is a world-renowned futurist and speaker, an International Bestselling Author, and a media personality who covers the future of business, technology, and society. President Xi Jinping cited his book Augmented on the topic of Artificial Intelligence and he was voted Top Foreign Author for 2019 in Russia. He has spoken in over 50 countries, at TED conferences, given opening keynotes for Wired, Techsauce, Singularity University, Web Summit, The Economist, IBM’s World of Watson, CES, SIBOS and many more. He has appeared as a commentator on CNN, CNBC, BBC, ABC, Fox, and Bloomberg. He previously advised the Obama administration on Fintech policy and advises regulators and bank boards around the world on technology transformation. King hosts the world’s first and #1 ranked radio show on FinTech called “Breaking Banks” (180 countries, 10m+ downloads) and his latest venture is “The Futurists“, a podcast featuring those creating the future. He is the Founder of Moven, the world’s first mobile, downloadable bank account. Moven was the first app-based, neo-bank or challenger bank in history that allowed an in-app application process for a debit card, the first banking app to use the homescreen for financial health indicators, the first real-time receipts for transactions, and the first bank to use contactless cards in the US) and now a Banking-as-a-Service platform for mobile banking and financial wellness available for banks and fintechs globally. Named “King of the Disruptors” (Banking Exchange magazine) and the “Godfather of Fintech” (The Australian newspaper), King is a Fintech Hall of Famer (CB Insights) who was voted American Banker’s Innovator of the Year, voted the world’s #1 Financial Services Influencer by The Financial Brand and was nominated by Bank Innovation as one of the top 10 “coolest brands in banking”. He was shortlisted for the 2015 Advance Global Australian of the Year Award for being one of the most influential Australians living offshore. His books have been released in over a dozen languages and he has achieved bestseller status in 20 countries. His fifth book Augmented: Life in the Smart Lane was an international bestseller, top 10 in North America and China, and the book remained in the top 10 on Amazon for 2 years. Bank 4.0, which followed, has already spent 3 years on the Amazon bestsellers list for Banking books. His latest book for the post-Coronavirus world is entitled The Rise of Technosocialism and is out now.

About Scott Deming Scott Deming is a highly accomplished senior executive with more than 30 years of success within agriculture, franchising, restaurants, food & beverage, not-for-profits, automotive, healthcare, retail, pharmaceuticals, utilities, visitor and tourism, financial and professional services, insurance, technology, distribution, manufacturing, and real estate. He leverages extensive brand development and strategic planning experience to improve an organization’s standing while implementing innovative solutions to support growth. Scott has proven his ability to build and motivate teams while developing unparalleled customer experience, innovation and leadership initiatives with his internationally acclaimed keynote presentations, training sessions and consulting arrangements. Scott works with companies spanning any industry with current clients including Kansas Hospital Association, Canadian Association of Fairs & Exhibitions, Daikon Heating & Cooling, New Balance Athletic Shoe Inc., McDonald’s of Russia, Hershey Foods, Pfizer, Delta Airlines, Verizon Wireless, General Motors, Farm Credit Bank, AT&T and PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Scott works closely with clients to identify core requirements and develops solutions with an emphasis on culture transformation, employee motivation and engagement, and corporate goal attainment, drawing on 30+ years of corporate experience. Key indicators of his success are represented by his training and workshop sessions that have been considered so impactful, that The Vision Council issued CXO Certification to all attendees.; his consultancy input to a national manufacturer recognized in supporting the company’s achievement of record sales figures; and assisting a Verizon Wireless subsidiary franchisee with customer service improvements which resulted in an 80% increase in sales. From 1986 to 2003, Scott managed his own advertising company, establishing Deming Advertising and building a client portfolio prior to a company merger in 1991. By 1993, Scott had negotiated a buyout and returned his company to standalone status, rebranding the business as Ryan Communications Inc. He worked with B2B and B2C companies to formulate advertising solutions and grew the business to 70 employees and $30 million in annual revenue. His clients included Mom & Pop businesses and companies such as Benjamin Moore Paints, The Scotts Company, Bryant, Carrier, TroyBuilt, and Oki Data. In addition to his executive career, Scott is President and Chair of Safe & Sound with Amaya; Founder and former Board Member of Service Nation / Service Roundtable; and former Board Member with Leukemia & Lymphoma Foundation. He has also served as an Advisory Board Member with United Way, American Heart Association, Salvation Army, Children’s Cancer Foundation, and Upstate Medical. He has also served as an Advisor and Lecturer on the topic of Career Development at various Universities and an Advisor and Mentor at Prison Engagements. Proving his thought leadership, Scott regularly contributes to blogs and Magazines. He has published articles in media including Inc. Magazine, Entrepreneur, Boston Globe, Sales & Service Excellence, and the Huffington Post. Scott is a confident and prolific public speaker. He has spoken at national leadership retreats, global leadership, sales and customer events, and user conferences. Scott has been interviewed for Fox News and national radio shows and has participated in live radio Q&A.

Meet Peter Avis Peter Avis is a multi-award-winning General Manger and customer service consultant with over 25 years’ international experience in the hospitality sector. In a career that has seen him launch high-end restaurants and some of the world’s most luxurious hotels, Peter’s rise through the hospitality industry, from dishwasher to 2009 winner of the UK Restaurant Manager of the Year, epitomizes the power of hard work and humility, along with a continued pursuit for exceptional quality and high standards. For over 15 years Peter played an integral role in the Virgin Group, working closely with Sir Richard Branson on projects including managing the renowned London Roof Gardens and launching Virgin Limited Edition hotels such as the Mont Rochelle Hotel and Restaurant in South Africa and the Kasbah Tamadot in Morocco. Peter was also on hand to personally supervise the wedding of Sir Richard’s daughter on Necker Island. “Like me, Peter believes it is very important in a business to take a keen interest in the people who work for them. Their happiness reflects on their performance as well as on the pervading mood of the business. Peter always goes that extra mile with his team and guests, and truly loves what he does, and that shows.” – Sir Richard Branson Peter was recently appointed as General Manager of Galvin at Windows, at the London Hilton Park Lane. He frequently appears in broadcast media and is a popular keynote speaker. Born in Liverpool and brought up on a council estate, Peter left school at 16 with an uncertain future. Whilst visiting his sister in Miami, he took his first job as a dishwasher. With an attitude that shone as brightly as the plates he meticulously polished, he was quickly relocated to the restaurant floor where he displayed natural people skills and a flair for business. His ensuing years at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas and the Royal Garden Hotel in London taught Peter the importance of training, communication, service and consistency. Hungry to pursue his ambitions, he eventually gained an assistant manager position at a private restaurant in Knightsbridge, London. In 2001, Peter was approached to join the opening team of Babylon Restaurant, where he went from supervisor to manager in the space of a few years. Under his leadership, the Virgin venture scooped the Best London Restaurant award at the Visit London Awards in 2008, and, a year later, Peter was crowned UK Restaurant Manager of the Year. His achievements in the field were also recognised in 2014 when he received the Richard Branson Special Award for Services to the Community and the highly-coveted Carey Award for Manager of the Year. He was subsequently appointed Chairman of the UK Guild of Restaurant Services and was the youngest member ever to be inducted in the restaurant hall of fame. In 2022 he was awarded Her Majesty’s platinum jubilee medal and was inducted into the seal of excellence within the House of Lords for his services to Hospitality, Peter was also named top influencer in hospitality in 2022. Peter has served on a number of industry advisory boards and has been written about in press articles and a variety of industry magazines such as GS Magazine, Big Hospitality, Essentially Catering and The Caterer.