Storytelling & Business Communication

Why organisations work with Susan HayesCulleton She holds the CFA charter and runs a financial-training practice with clients across Europe and the United States, so the economic read is grounded in capital-markets discipline, not punditry. She wrote the textbook that Irish students learn economics from twice. That same instinct for sequencing complex material into something a room can act on is what she brings to executive audiences. She presents “Taking Stock” on Newstalk, interviewing experts on the issues moving the world economy each week. The implication for buyers is current material, sourced from named guests, refreshed continuously. She sits on the boards of the Irish International Business Network and the Ireland Hong Kong Business Forum, which gives her a working view of cross-border trade flows that few keynote economists hold. She built #SavvyTeenAcademy and Active Peers AI alongside the speaking practice, which means the economic argument lands with someone who has actually run payroll, raised invoices and made a hire. Biography highlights CFA charterholder; MSc Executive Leadership; BSc Financial Maths and Economics; Diploma in Taxation. Co-author of “Positive Economics”, a market-leading Leaving Certificate economics textbook in Ireland. Author of “The Savvy Woman’s Guide to Financial Freedom” and “The Savvy Guide to Making More Money” (Penguin Ireland). Author of “Money Matters”, a financial literacy textbook sponsored by CFA Society Ireland and distributed to Irish secondary schools. Presenter of “Taking Stock” on Newstalk; host of Fantastic Female Fridays and the ESG and Tech Show. Managing Director, Hayes Culleton Group; Associate Lecturer, Ulster University; board roles with the Irish International Business Network and the Ireland Hong Kong Business Forum. Biography Most boardrooms do not have an economist in the room. They have a CFO with a P&L, a strategy lead with a deck, and a set of macro headlines none of them can confidently translate into a hiring decision or a hedge. Susan HayesCulleton works in that gap. The credentialing matters here. The CFA charter, the MSc Executive Leadership and the BSc Financial Maths and Economics are not decoration; they are the reason the read on rates, currency and capital flows hold up under questioning. The Hayes Culleton Group serves clients across Europe and the United States out of that same training discipline. The public work is what makes the material legible. “Positive Economics”, co-authored twice, is the textbook generations of Irish students sat the Leaving Certificate with. “Money Matters”, sponsored by CFA Society Ireland, went into every secondary school in the country. On Newstalk, “Taking Stock” runs each week with named guests on the issues moving the world economy. The instinct for sequencing technical content into something a non-specialist room can use is the through-line. She also runs businesses. #SavvyTeenAcademy places teenagers into corporate work experience programmes; Active Peers AI captures and diffuses tacit knowledge inside networks. Board seats with the Irish International Business Network and the Ireland Hong Kong Business Forum keep her close to the cross-border trade flows that most economists discuss only in the abstract. Key speaking topics Global economic outlook and macro forecasting Capital markets and investing for non-specialist audiences Cross-border trade, Ireland, UK and Asia-Pacific exposure ESG and sustainability in commercial decision-making Financial literacy and women in finance Entrepreneurship and scale-up economics Ideal for Boards, executive committees and CFOs are preparing capital allocation, hedging or pricing decisions against an uncertain macro backdrop. Banking, financial services and professional services audiences who want a working economist on the platform rather than a generalist commentator. Conferences hosting international trade, ESG, or financial literacy themes. Corporate audiences seeking a credible Irish or European economic voice for European, UK or US-facing programmes. Audience outcomes A clearer read on what the current macro signals mean for the specific decisions in front of the leadership team. Working vocabulary for capital-markets concepts (rates, currency, equity flows) that previously sat with the CFO alone. A view on cross-border exposure for organisations trading into Ireland, the UK, the EU or Asia-Pacific. Confidence to ask the next-level question of internal finance and risk teams. An economic argument paced for a mixed-seniority audience, not a specialist one.

Why organisations work with Steph McGovern Eight years as BBC Breakfast’s lead business presenter, with a reporting beat that covered more than 500 companies, gives her an interviewing range from FTSE chairs to first-time founders in the same morning. She co-hosts The Rest Is Money with Robert Peston, which means she is in weekly working contact with the macro and political stories shaping a CFO’s agenda, not reading them up the night before an event. Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, with an apprenticeship background at Black and Decker, which lands credibly with industrial, manufacturing and skills-led audiences in a way most business presenters cannot match. Hosting record across Steph’s Packed Lunch, Have I Got News For You and Watchdog gives her the live-on-air composure to handle a room when a CEO goes off script or a Q and A turns combative. She is fluent in small business and consumer economics, useful when a client wants the keynote or the panel pitched at the supplier base, the franchisee network or the customer-facing workforce, not just the executive team. Biography highlights Lead business presenter, BBC Breakfast, 2011 to 2019. Host, Steph’s Packed Lunch, Channel 4, 2020 to 2023, more than 250 episodes. Co-host, The Rest Is Money podcast, with Robert Peston, Goalhanger Podcasts. Honorary Fellow, Royal Academy of Engineering, 2021. Honorary Doctorate, Teesside University, 2013. Debut crime novel Deadline, Pan Macmillan, 2025; judge, Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, since 2019. Recurring host, Have I Got News For You, BBC One, since 2017. Biography Most business communication fails at the same point. The numbers are correct, the strategy is sound, the slides are clean, and the audience that actually has to act on it has tuned out by slide three. Steph McGovern’s career has been built on the opposite move: taking a board-level commercial story and making it audible to the people whose buy-in determines whether it works. She spent eight years as BBC Breakfast’s lead business presenter, interviewing CEOs, regulators and small business owners on consecutive segments and treating them with the same scrutiny. After leaving the BBC in 2019, she launched Steph’s Packed Lunch on Channel 4, a daily live programme that ran for more than 250 episodes between 2020 and 2023, with regular segments on the small business economy and the labour market. Her current platform is The Rest Is Money, the Goalhanger podcast she co-hosts with Robert Peston, which keeps her on the macro and political-economic beat week to week. Alongside that, she is a recurring host of Have I Got News For You and a sought-after conference moderator and awards host. Her debut crime novel, Deadline, was published by Pan Macmillan in 2025; she has judged Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year prize at Harrogate since 2019. The detail that buyers most often miss: she trained as an engineer. She was a young engineer for Britain at 19 on a Black and Decker apprenticeship, where she is credited with a six-figure annual saving on a single product line. The Royal Academy of Engineering elected her an Honorary Fellow in 2021 for her work championing vocational skills. That background is why industrial, manufacturing and skills-led clients book her for events that a generalist broadcaster could not credibly host. Key speaking topics Business and economic journalism Small businesses and the UK economy Consumer markets and personal finance Engineering, apprenticeships and vocational skills Conference hosting and panel moderation Awards hosting Media interview craft for executives Ideal for Annual conferences where the board wants the macro and commercial stories landed for a mixed-seniority audience. Industry awards, supplier conferences and franchisee events that need a host who can hold a live room and interview C-suite guests. Manufacturing, engineering and skills-sector audiences who respond to a presenter with a credible technical background. Internal leadership events where a CEO or CFO wants their strategy questioned in front of the room before it is rolled out. Audience outcomes A clearer read on the current macro and commercial backdrop, in language that connects to the audience’s day job rather than analyst notes. Sharper executive panels and Q&A sessions because the moderator is genuinely fluent in the subject matter. A renewed argument for investment in apprenticeships, vocational pathways and shop-floor capability, grounded in a presenter who lived it. A live event that holds energy through the unscripted moments, not just the keynote slot.

Why organisations work with Stacey Dooley A working method built over more than 100 BBC documentaries on trafficking, domestic abuse, extremism and fashion industry pollution, which gives her an unusual ability to discuss difficult subjects on a corporate stage without sanitising them. Recipient of the Grierson Trustees’ Award 2024, the youngest person ever to receive it, for outstanding contribution to documentary. A credential that audiences and journalists recognise immediately. A track record of taking serious subject matter to younger audiences, the demographic most internal communications teams struggle to reach with mental health, wellbeing and ethics content. Equally credible as an event host, on-stage interviewer and keynote speaker, which makes her a flexible booking for awards nights, conferences and internal leadership events on women, mental health or social impact. Biography highlights BBC documentary presenter, with more than 100 films across BBC One, BBC Two and BBC Three. MBE for services to broadcasting, 2018 Birthday Honours. Grierson Trustees’ Award 2024, youngest recipient. One World Media Award (Popular Features) for Stacey Dooley: Face to Face with Isis, 2018. Sunday Times bestselling author: On the Front Line with the Women Who Fight Back (2018), Are You Really OK? (2022), Dear Minnie (2025). Winner, Strictly Come Dancing 2018 (BBC One); presenter of Glow Up and Stacey Dooley Sleeps Over. Biography Most corporate conversations about mental health, exploitation or domestic abuse fail the people they are about. The language is too cautious, the staging too clean, and the lived reality goes missing. Stacey Dooley has built a 17-year BBC career closing exactly that gap, on screen and in print, and audiences notice the difference. She came up through Blood, Sweat and T-Shirts on BBC Three in 2008, with no journalism background, and went on to make more than 100 documentaries under the Stacey Dooley Investigates banner. The subjects span sex trafficking, domestic violence, extremism, fashion industry pollution, the illegal narcotics trade and Britain’s mental health emergency. Stacey Dooley: Face to Face with Isis won the Popular Features Award at the One World Media Awards in 2018. The Grierson Trust gave her its Trustees’ Award in 2024 for outstanding contribution to documentary, citing her ability to bring difficult subjects to younger viewers and to ask direct, uncomfortable questions of people in authority. She is the youngest person ever to receive the award. She holds an MBE for services to broadcasting and is a Sunday Times bestselling author three times over, most recently with Dear Minnie: Conversations with Remarkable Mothers (Penguin, 2025). For organisations, the value is twofold. As a host or on-stage interviewer, she can carry subject matter that defeats more traditional MCs. As a keynote speaker, she draws on documentary work that audiences already know, which lends weight to internal conversations on women’s safety, mental health and ethical practice that often struggle to land. Key speaking topics Investigative documentary and storytelling Women’s experience, safety and rights Mental health and the limits of public conversation Ethical journalism on sensitive subjects Domestic abuse and coercive control Labour conditions and exploitation in global supply chains Career routes outside traditional media gatekeeping Ideal for Corporate awards nights, gala dinners and conferences seeking a recognisable BBC host with editorial range. Internal leadership events on mental health, wellbeing or women’s safety where a corporate MC would feel mismatched. CHRO and Head of Internal Communications audiences planning campaigns on domestic abuse, mental health or supply chain ethics. Public sector, charity and NGO conferences on social impact, women’s rights or violence against women and girls. Audience outcomes A documentary-maker’s view of how to talk about hard subjects without flattening them. Specific case material from BBC investigations into trafficking, domestic abuse, extremism and mental health. A more honest internal benchmark for what good journalism looks like on the issues organisations are increasingly asked to comment on. Permission to be more direct in internal communications about mental health and women’s experiences.

Why organisations work with Sasha Qadri Her years as Senior Programming Director at Bloomberg Live mean she approaches moderation as an editorial problem: she understands what a discussion is supposed to achieve before she takes the stage to lead it – not just how to keep it moving. She started her career in investment banking and has worked extensively with financial institutions including Lloyds Bank and the Treasury – giving her genuine financial literacy that shows when chairing sessions on fintech, capital markets, and economic policy. Her live broadcast background – including breaking news on Sky News and production roles at CNN and CNBC – means she is rarely unsettled by format changes, difficult panellists, or unscripted moments in high-profile live environments. She has chaired the Innovate Finance Global Summit, co-hosted London Tech Week and its Global Leaders Summit, and emceed Money 20/20 in Europe: events where the participant list demands more than capable chairmanship. Her interviewee roster spans the Former UK Chancellor, the Head of GCHQ, leading technology CEOs, and AI researchers – giving her substantive range across the full landscape of technology, finance, and public policy that executive audiences expect a moderator to navigate. Biography highlights Anchored television news for Sky News; produced and reported for CNN, Bloomberg, CNBC, Reuters, and Channel 4 News Former Senior Programming Director, Bloomberg Live – curated and moderated flagship business and technology events Career began in investment banking (UBS cited by multiple bureau sources); subsequent commercial experience at lastminute.com during the dotcom era Social and Political Sciences, University of Cambridge; further study at The Sorbonne Recent events include: co-host, London Tech Week; chair, Innovate Finance Global Summit; emcee, Money 20/20 Middle East; main stage chair, Tech Show London; main stage chair and moderator, Global Health Exhibition; moderator, FII Institute and Cityscape Global Named interviewees include Rt. Hon. Philip Hammond (Former UK Chancellor), Anne Keast-Butler (Head of GCHQ), Mo Gawdat, Martha Lane Fox, Francesca Carlesi (Revolut UK CEO), and Mike Martin (Strava CEO) Recent corporate clients include Palo Alto Networks, Amazon, Akamai, Royal London, and Mastercard Biography Leadership events at the intersection of technology, finance, and business policy are only as good as the conversation they produce. Sasha Qadri is a broadcaster and event moderator whose career has run across two disciplines that rarely coexist: live television journalism – anchoring for Sky News, producing for CNN, CNBC, and Bloomberg – and editorial leadership of major live events as Senior Programming Director at Bloomberg Live. That editorial role is what distinguishes her from the professional host market. At Bloomberg Live, she did not simply chair discussions – she curated them, shaping the content architecture of flagship business and technology events before taking the stage to lead them. The combination of knowing what a conversation is supposed to achieve, then making it happen with senior executives in front of a live audience, is the specific capability organisations are hiring when they book her. Her professional foundation adds further range. She began her career in investment banking and has since worked regularly with financial institutions including Lloyds Bank and the Treasury. A degree in Social and Political Sciences from Cambridge gives her the grounding to operate across the full space where technology, finance, economics, and public policy intersect – and to interview figures including a former UK Chancellor and the Head of GCHQ with genuine comprehension, not just broadcast fluency. In 2025, she co-hosted London Tech Week and chaired its Global Leaders Summit, emceed Money 20/20 in Europe, and chaired the Innovate Finance Global Summit (the UK fintech sector’s flagship annual conference). The same year extended her chairing and moderation work across the Middle East, including FII Institute, Cityscape Global, and the Global Health Exhibition. Events that trust her with their main stage consistently feature participant lists where competent chairmanship is insufficient. Key speaking topics Artificial intelligence and digital transformation Financial services and fintech leadership Cybersecurity and technology risk AI adoption and generative AI Sustainability and energy transition Geopolitics, policy, and economic leadership Business strategy and technology innovation Ideal for CTOs, CISOs, and technology leadership conferences requiring a moderator with genuine sector depth, not just broadcast presence Financial services and fintech events – CFO, CEO, and C-suite panel formats where moderator literacy on capital markets, regulation, and digital disruption is material Public-private sector summits on technology, national security, and economic strategy, where interviewees include government officials and policymakers Major international conferences requiring anchor-standard broadcast experience combined with editorial event direction Audience outcomes Executive panel discussions that move past rehearsed positions into substantive exchange Clearer understanding of emerging intersections between technology, finance, and policy – framed for decision-makers, not technical specialists Confident navigation of complex or sensitive topics – AI ethics, geopolitical risk, fintech regulation – without losing audience accessibility A moderated session that maintains engagement and structure across multiple hours, formats, or speakers Conversations shaped by editorial intelligence that understands what the session is supposed to achieve before it begins

Why organisations work with Sarah Montague She has spent three decades interviewing heads of state, finance ministers, and central bankers on live broadcast – the preparation and precision that requires does not disappear when the venue is a conference room rather than a radio studio. Her early career as a Eurobond dealer and stockbroker at NatWest Capital Markets gives her a genuine fluency in financial and economic discussions that most broadcast journalists cannot credibly claim. She has chaired high-profile forums for Savills, ABTA, NHS Confederation, Nominet, and Jardine Lloyd Thompson, demonstrating the ability to absorb technical subject matter across sectors without losing journalistic rigour. As a sitting BBC Radio 4 anchor – not a former presenter – she brings active institutional authority to a leadership event, which changes the dynamic of the room before the first question is asked. Biography highlights Lead presenter, BBC Radio 4’s The World at One; regular presenter of the Today programme for 18 years (2002–2018) Presenter, HARDtalk, BBC World; hosted Nobel Minds, BBC World’s roundtable discussion with Nobel Laureates Broadcast career spanning BBC Newsnight, BBC News 24 (one of its original anchors), and Breakfast with Frost Pre-BBC roles at Reuters Television and Sky News as business correspondent; early career as stockbroker and Eurobond dealer at NatWest Capital Markets Honorary Doctor of Letters, University of Sussex; Honorary Doctor of Laws, University of Bristol Named conference chair for Savills, ABTA, NHS Confederation, and Nominet, among others Biography Getting economics, geopolitics, and public policy right in a leadership forum takes preparation, authority, and the ability to challenge without breaking the room. Sarah Montague has been doing exactly that on BBC Radio 4 for three decades. As lead presenter of The World at One – and for 18 years before that, a regular anchor on the Today programme – she has interrogated heads of state, finance ministers, and central bankers at moments when precision really mattered. Her work on HARDtalk for BBC World extended that to the full range of global leadership: political, corporate, and institutional. She also hosted Nobel Minds, BBC World’s roundtable with Nobel Laureates – a format that rewards exactly the kind of structured, high-pressure intellectual facilitation that senior leadership events demand. Before journalism, she worked in financial markets – first as a stockbroker at County NatWest, then as a Eurobond dealer at NatWest Capital Markets. That background shows up in the conference room. She moves between financial services, geopolitical risk, and public policy without needing a briefing to catch up. She has chaired and moderated for organisations across property, trade, technology, and healthcare – Savills, ABTA, NHS Confederation, Nominet, and others. A senior audience, a tight agenda, a contested topic: the combination that tests most moderators is where Montague is most at home. Key speaking topics Geopolitics and global political risk Economic trends and financial markets UK and international current affairs Public policy and regulatory change Conference moderation and high-stakes facilitation Media, journalism, and editorial integrity Gender equity in the workplace Ideal for C-suite and board forums where geopolitical or economic uncertainty is a standing strategic concern Financial services and professional services organisations hosting annual leadership or strategy conferences Public sector, government, and regulatory bodies requiring impartial, authoritative facilitation FTSE 350 and multinational organisations running senior panel discussions that require a credible external chair Audience outcomes A clearer picture of how political and economic developments connect to strategic decisions facing their organisation Structured insight extracted from senior panellists through rigorous facilitation, rather than left to emerge by chance Confidence that contested or technically complex topics will be handled with precision and impartiality Exposure to a questioning methodology developed over 30 years of frontline political and economic broadcast journalism A well-managed discussion that stays on time, covers the ground, and leaves the room with something to act on

Why organisations work with Sarah Begum First-hand experience of the climate impact on indigenous communities. Her Cannes-premiered film Amazon Souls came out of two weeks living with the Huaorani people in Yasuní National Park, where oil exploitation and rainforest loss are present conditions, not projections. Most corporate audiences get this material from researchers. She was there. Brings a broadcast journalist’s discipline to sustainability talks. Before climate became her primary topic, she was presenting news in Caracas during the Venezuelan crisis and reporting features for GHOne TV in Ghana. That training shapes how she handles a corporate room, with concrete stories and the pacing of a working journalist. Connects indigenous climate stories to practical sustainability strategy. As a STEM Ambassador and host of Spaced Out!, where she interviews NASA scientists and space entrepreneurs, she brings the technology side of ESG, from satellite data to climate monitoring, into corporate conversations about climate action. Credibility that holds up on both sides of the room. Fellowship of the Royal Geographical Society and the Captain Scott Society’s Spirit of Adventure Award (2014) place her inside the exploration establishment. The Guardian’s San Miguel Rich List 2016 named her one of the world’s top 17 trailblazers, alongside her BAFTA-recognised short for Nespresso Talents 2018. Biography highlights Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society Director of Amazon Souls (2013), premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and distributed worldwide Broadcast journalist: presented news from Caracas during the Venezuelan crisis and reported features for GHOne TV in Ghana Host of Spaced Out!, a podcast and TV series on the space industry featured on Space Channel Winner of the Captain Scott Society’s Spirit of Adventure Award (2014); finalist for the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship 2014 Named one of The Guardian’s top 17 trailblazers in the San Miguel Rich List 2016 Biography Yasuní National Park, in the Ecuadorian Amazon, is one of the most biodiverse places on Earth. It also sits above some of South America’s largest untapped oil reserves. The Huaorani people, who have lived in Yasuní for generations, have been the ones negotiating that collision. Sarah Begum spent two weeks living with the Huaorani in 2010. She was 21, studying television and film, and funded the expedition herself. The documentary she brought back, Amazon Souls, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2013 and was distributed worldwide, endorsed by rainforest organisations including Rainforest Alliance, Sky Rainforest Rescue and Rainforest Foundation. Her work since has followed the same method: travel to places most people will never go, and report back in terms corporate and general audiences can use. A Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, she has presented news from Caracas during the Venezuelan crisis, reported features for GHOne TV in Ghana, interviewed Jane Goodall for BBC Focus magazine, and directed the BAFTA-recognised short Who Would Have Thought… for Nespresso Talents 2018. The Captain Scott Society awarded her its Spirit of Adventure Award in 2014 for the Darien Gap expedition. Her talks carry this method into boardrooms. A STEM Ambassador and host of the space-industry series Spaced Out!, she reports on how satellite data and space-based research now underpin corporate sustainability strategy, drawing on interviews with NASA scientists and space entrepreneurs. Key speaking topics Climate justice and indigenous communities ESG strategy and corporate sustainability Women in STEM and exploration The space sector and Earth sustainability Immersive journalism and cultural storytelling Climate action and frontline impact Ideal for Chief Sustainability Officers, Heads of ESG, and Corporate Responsibility teams looking to move past reporting frameworks International Women’s Day, DEI, and employee resource group events where frontline storytelling anchors the conversation Conferences on sustainability, climate action, and the space sector where a primary-source perspective adds weight Leadership programmes and awaydays seeking to reconnect senior teams to the human stakes of their climate commitments Audience outcomes What oil exploitation and rainforest loss actually look like for the communities on the frontline, told by someone who has spent time with them A human frame for ESG reporting, drawn from indigenous advocacy, international journalism, and space-sector research A model for how first-hand reporting can be translated into storytelling that changes internal conversations about sustainability Named examples of how the space sector contributes to climate data and corporate sustainability strategy

Why organisations work with Sandi Toksvig She did not simply comment on gender equity: in 2015 she resigned one of the most prominent chairs in British broadcasting to co-found a political party around it. That choice gives her a credibility in the room that no consultant or commentator can acquire. Forty years in live, contested broadcast formats, chairing political satire, hosting mass-audience television, moderating fast-moving intellectual debate, represent a specific and rare capability: keeping a complex, high-stakes conversation moving with precision and warmth. Her TED Talk on structural gender representation and her play Bully Boy (Nuffield Theatre; West End, 2012), which examines moral ambiguity and institutional culture, demonstrate that her engagement with social complexity goes well beyond commentary. As President of the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain and a Cambridge-educated author of 20-plus books across fiction, non-fiction, and drama, she brings genuine intellectual depth to conversations about communication, culture, and representation, not just platform authority. She has held the room at every level, from broadcast audiences of millions to TED stages, making serious arguments about inclusion, accountability, and change both rigorous and accessible to a leadership audience. Biography highlights First-class degree in archaeology and anthropology, Girton College, Cambridge; received two academic prizes; performed in the first all-woman Cambridge Footlights show, alongside Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, and Emma Thompson Co-founder, Women’s Equality Party (2015), with journalist Catherine Mayer; left BBC Radio 4’s The News Quiz – a role she held for ten years – specifically to do so; covered by the New York Times; TED Talk on gender representation and political mobilisation Host, BBC Two’s QI (from 2016, succeeding Stephen Fry); co-presenter, Channel 4’s The Great British Bake Off (2017-2020); chair, BBC Radio 4’s The News Quiz (2006-2015) Playwright: Bully Boy premiered at Nuffield Theatre, Southampton (2011); transferred to launch the debut West End season of St James Theatre, London (2012) – the first new West End theatre in 30 years OBE for services to broadcasting (2014 New Year Honours); Chancellor, University of Portsmouth; Honorary Fellow, Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge President, Writers’ Guild of Great Britain (from 2019); author of more than twenty books for adults and children Biography The gap between organisations that declare commitment to gender equity and those that actually change their leadership pipelines is well documented. Sandi Toksvig entered this conversation at measurable personal cost – resigning as chair of BBC Radio 4’s The News Quiz in 2015 to co-found the Women’s Equality Party with journalist Catherine Mayer. A TED Talk on gender representation and political mobilisation followed. The decision established Toksvig’s standing not as a commentator on inclusion but as someone who had tested her convictions against institutional consequence. Her broadcast career provides a different order of evidence. Four decades in live, contested formats – hosting BBC Two’s QI, co-presenting Channel 4’s The Great British Bake Off, chairing political satire on Radio 4 – demonstrate a specific capability: keeping complex, high-stakes conversation moving with precision, wit, and authority. She holds a first-class degree from Girton College, Cambridge, where she also performed in the first all-woman Cambridge Footlights show. Her range extends beyond broadcasting. As a playwright, her Bully Boy – a work on moral ambiguity, institutional authority, and the human cost of political decision-making – premiered at the Nuffield Theatre and transferred to launch St James Theatre’s debut West End season. She has served as President of the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain and Chancellor of the University of Portsmouth, and has published more than twenty books across fiction, non-fiction, and children’s literature. For organisations working to close the distance between stated values and visible change on inclusion and representation, Toksvig brings something precise: four decades of live broadcast authority, the civic credibility of having acted on her convictions, and the capacity to hold a difficult room without losing it. Key speaking topics Gender equity and leadership representation Storytelling and political communication Cultural intelligence and cross-cultural perspective Civic activism and democratic accountability Satire, comedy, and public discourse Inclusive organisational culture Writing, publishing, and creative practice Ideal for CHROs and People & Culture leaders hosting executive summits or leadership conferences on inclusion, representation, and cultural change Boards and senior leadership teams working to move DEI commitments from policy to practice Awards ceremonies, after-dinner engagements, and conference programmes requiring an anchor voice combining intellectual authority with wit Professional associations in media, publishing, law, or higher education seeking a credible voice on representation, communication, and civic responsibility Audience outcomes A clear frame for why gender equity stalls despite broad agreement – and what it takes to make the argument land in a room Understanding of how communication style and conviction, not data alone, drive cultural change in organisations Perspective on the relationship between satire, public discourse, and institutional accountability A model of what sustained, costly commitment to inclusion looks like – beyond declarations and frameworks Confidence in approaching contested conversations about representation with authority and without defensiveness

Why organisations work with Samira Ahmed More than three decades in senior British journalism, including current presenting roles on BBC Radio 4’s Front Row and BBC One’s Newswatch, give her the instinct to read a room and the standing to hold it. Her January 2020 equal pay tribunal win against the BBC gives her direct, lived authority on workplace fairness that few moderators can claim. She has chaired panels for the British Museum, the Royal Shakespeare Company, the United Nations, the Cabinet Office and KPMG, and handles contested material without flattening it into talking points. Stonewall Broadcaster of the Year in 2009 and a current trustee of the Centre for Women’s Justice, she brings a journalistically tested base in equality and gender topics that few corporate hosts can claim. Biography highlights Presenter, Front Row, BBC Radio 4, and Newswatch, BBC One and BBC News Channel. British Broadcasting Press Guild Audio Presenter of the Year, 2020. Stonewall Broadcaster of the Year, 2009, for Channel 4 News reporting on the “corrective” rape of lesbian women in South Africa. Brought and won the landmark equal pay tribunal against the BBC, January 2020. Honorary Fellow of St Edmund Hall, Oxford; honorary doctorates from City University of London, the University of East Anglia, Kingston University and the University of Winchester. Trustee, Centre for Women’s Justice; former Channel 4 News presenter and correspondent and former BBC Los Angeles correspondent. Biography In January 2020, an employment tribunal in central London ruled that Samira Ahmed had been paid less than a male colleague for the same broadcasting work. The judgment set a new reference point in British equal pay law and triggered pay reviews across the BBC. That case sits inside more than three decades of senior British journalism. It also explains why organisations book her to chair the conversations they cannot easily host themselves. She has been the named subject in a public fight over pay and gender, where most professional moderators have only commented from outside. She presents Front Row on BBC Radio 4 and Newswatch on BBC One. Before that came eleven years at Channel 4 News, plus an earlier BBC posting to Los Angeles to cover the OJ Simpson trial. Her honours include the 2020 British Broadcasting Press Guild Audio Presenter of the Year. A Stonewall Broadcaster of the Year award followed in 2009 for her Channel 4 News reporting on “corrective” rape in South Africa. She has chaired live discussions for the British Museum, the Royal Shakespeare Company, the British Film Institute, the United Nations and the Cabinet Office. She presented the Civil Service Awards for five consecutive years. In April 2023, on Front Row, she announced the earliest known complete recording of a Beatles concert in Britain. The tape was made by a fifteen-year-old pupil at Stowe School in 1963 and is now held by the British Library. Key speaking topics Equal pay and workplace fairness Gender equality and women’s rights Public trust in journalism and institutions Cultural intelligence in public discourse Senior conference chairing and panel moderation Diversity and representation in public life Ideal for Award ceremonies, leadership summits and AGMs requiring a credible senior chair CHROs and pay equity committees hosting public discussions on workplace fairness DEI leads, communications directors and ESG officers running events on gender equality and fair pay Cultural institutions and public-sector bodies briefing audiences on contested or sensitive material Audience outcomes A direct, journalist-trained perspective on equal pay and workplace fairness, drawn from her own landmark BBC tribunal A working understanding of how the BBC weighs editorial trust and audience scrutiny, from the presenter of Newswatch A discussion that keeps its substance when the material is sensitive, with senior contributors tested rather than handled A model of senior public chairing where the room is led with authority and contested material given space to land

Why organisations work with Samantha Simmonds She has spent more than two decades reading live news on Sky News and BBC News, so a live audience, a faulty autocue or a delayed senior speaker does not move her off the agenda. She has interviewed Snapchat founder Evan Spiegel and Nobel laureate Juan Manuel Santos in fireside format, which is the part of the job most hosts cannot do: keeping a global leader on the substance without flattening the conversation. She works at the top of UK corporate hosting, with named clients including the UK Government, Deloitte, London Stock Exchange Group, Sainsbury’s, Hewlett Packard, British Business Bank and Manpower Group. She compered the Qatar-UK business investment forum alongside both the British and Qatari Prime Ministers and chaired an innovation forum for the King of Bhutan, both of which require protocol judgement on top of presenting craft. When she keynotes in her own name, the material is grounded in something specific: how a live news anchor stays composed, frames the question, and reads the room when the script breaks. Biography highlights BBC News presenter, currently hosting Politics London on BBC One. Sky News main anchor from 2005 to 2016, covering UK general elections, the EU referendum, the murder of Jo Cox MP and the Royal Wedding from Buckingham Palace. Earlier presenter on BBC Breakfast and BBC London News, producer on Channel 5 News. Postgraduate Diploma in Broadcast Journalism, City University London; BA, University of Liverpool. Co-host of the podcast It’s a Grown Up Life with journalist Lauren Libbert. Named conference and awards hosting credits include the UK Government, Deloitte, London Stock Exchange Group, Sainsbury’s, Hewlett Packard, British Business Bank and Manpower Group. Biography Live news anchoring is closer to senior corporate hosting than most buyers realise. Both require holding a room, reading the agenda live, asking a useful question of someone who would rather stay on message, and recovering quickly when the running order breaks. Samantha Simmonds has done one for more than two decades and now does the other at the top end of the UK corporate market. Her on-air career runs from local radio in Yorkshire through Channel 5 News, BBC Breakfast and BBC London, into more than a decade as a main anchor at Sky News from 2005 to 2016. She returned to the BBC in 2017 and currently presents for BBC News and hosts Politics London on BBC One. The Sky years covered UK general elections, the EU referendum, the Royal Wedding live from Buckingham Palace and the murder of Jo Cox MP. The corporate work sits on top of that. She has hosted conferences, awards and fireside chats for the UK Government, Deloitte, London Stock Exchange Group, Sainsbury’s, Hewlett Packard, British Business Bank and Manpower Group. Her named fireside subjects include Snapchat founder Evan Spiegel and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Juan Manuel Santos, and she has compered the Qatar-UK business investment forum alongside both Prime Ministers and chaired an innovation forum for the King of Bhutan. She also writes and podcasts. It’s a Grown Up Life, her podcast with journalist Lauren Libbert, covers the working and personal lives of midlife women. When she keynotes in her own name, the material is drawn from the anchor chair: how to ask better questions, how to keep composure when the autocue dies, and how to read a room of senior people in real time. Key speaking topics Conference hosting and moderation Fireside chats with senior leaders Awards ceremony hosting Interviewing technique under pressure Composure on the live stage Women, work and midlife UK political and current affairs context Ideal for Corporate annual conferences, leadership offsites and investor days needing a senior host. Awards ceremonies and gala dinners requiring an experienced presenter on stage. CEO, chair or political-leader fireside chats where the interviewer needs to hold the room and the substance. Government, financial services and professional services events with a UK political or current affairs frame. Audience outcomes A stage that stays on time, on agenda and on tone for the duration of the event. Senior-leader interviews that go beyond pre-approved talking points without becoming combative. A host who can absorb a last-minute running order change, speaker no-show or live technical failure without the audience noticing. For keynote bookings, a working account of how live broadcasters prepare for, and recover from, things going wrong on air.

Why organisations work with Sally Hogshead She brings a diagnosis, not a theory. The Fascination Advantage assessment gives leadership teams a shared vocabulary for what each person and each brand actually does best, drawn from data on more than a million respondents. Her commercial credibility is built on practice, not commentary. She wrote campaigns at Crispin Porter and Bogusky and her own agencies for MINI Cooper, Nike, Godiva and Harley-Davidson before turning that craft into a research-based system. Two New York Times bestsellers, Fascinate and How the World Sees You, give her arguments a published spine that internal teams can return to after the keynote. She translates the science of attention into work an executive can act on: how a sales team positions itself in nine seconds, how a leader is perceived in the first meeting, how a brand earns memory in a crowded category. Hall of Fame induction by the National Speakers Association places her in the top tier of professional speakers, measured by sustained client demand, not single-event reception. Biography highlights New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of How the World Sees You and Fascinate, the latter translated into more than twelve languages. Creator of the Fascination Advantage assessment, used by over a million professionals to identify communication and brand differentiation traits. Inducted into the CPAE Speaker Hall of Fame by the National Speakers Association. Former managing and creative director who opened the Crispin Porter and Bogusky Venice office in 2001 and previously co-founded Robaire and Hogshead. Built campaigns for MINI Cooper, Nike, Godiva, Coca-Cola and Harley-Davidson; advertising work held in the Smithsonian Museum of American History. Frequently featured by Fortune 500 teams and C-suite leadership groups to apply Fascinate research directly to brand and team positioning. Biography Most markets are not short of communication. They are short of memorable communication. The discipline of identifying what makes one brand, one team, or one senior leader stand out in a category where everyone sounds competent is where Sally Hogshead has spent twenty years of practice and research. Hogshead came up through the advertising industry as a copywriter at Fallon, Wieden and Kennedy, and The Martin Agency, then co-founded Robaire and Hogshead in 1998 before opening the Venice, California office of Crispin Porter and Bogusky in 2001 as managing and creative director. The campaigns she wrote for MINI Cooper, Nike, Godiva, Coca-Cola and Harley-Davidson hang in the Smithsonian Museum of American History. By the end of that decade, she had won close to every major international advertising award on record. The work since then has been about turning that craft into a system. Her two New York Times bestsellers, Fascinate and How the World Sees You, set out the research behind the Fascination Advantage assessment, a tool used by more than a million professionals and Fortune 500 teams to map how they are actually perceived rather than how they intend to be perceived. The distinction matters in commercial settings, where positioning is decided by the audience, not the speaker. Her induction into the National Speakers Association CPAE Speaker Hall of Fame placed her among fewer than 200 inductees since 1977. Senior teams hire her when they need to move from generic differentiation language to a specific account of why their organisation, product, or leadership team is the one a customer chooses to remember. Key speaking topics Brand differentiation and positioning Persuasion and attention in saturated markets Personal brand and executive presence Customer experience and marketing Sales communication and pitch effectiveness Team communication and perception Storytelling and business communication Ideal for CMOs, brand directors and marketing leadership teams Sales leaders and customer-facing organisations are rebuilding pitch and positioning CHROs and executive development leads are working on senior leader presence Founders and partners in professional services firms competing on differentiation Audience outcomes A specific, named view of where their brand or leadership team is currently differentiated, and where it is interchangeable A working vocabulary from the Fascination Advantage framework that teams can apply to pitches, profiles and internal communication Concrete examples drawn from MINI Cooper, Nike and other brands of how differentiation is constructed, not asserted A sharper assessment of what their customers and colleagues actually find memorable about them Editorial discipline on cutting filler messaging that is competent but forgettable

Why organisations work with Reged Ahmad Two decades of live international news at the BBC and Guardian Australia, which means a panel chair who can run a difficult conversation on geopolitics or US politics without losing the room. Active editorial role as Host and Senior Producer of Guardian Australia’s Full Story podcast, so the questions she asks come from the same daily news cycle the audience is reading that morning. Experience anchoring BBC World News TV and BBC World Service Radio, including The Newsroom and the Global News Podcast, which translates directly into composure on a live stage with a corporate audience. Bilateral perspective on Australia, the UK and the United States, useful for events with leadership audiences spanning APAC, EMEA and North America. Voice over and event hosting practice that means scripted segments, sponsor reads and award announcements are handled to broadcast standard. Biography highlights Host and Senior Producer, Full Story, Guardian Australia’s daily news podcast, with co-host Nour Haydar. Co-host, Decoding America, Guardian Australia’s US politics podcast, with Jonathan Yerushalmy. Former international news anchor, BBC World News TV. Former presenter, BBC World Service Radio, including The Newsroom and the Global News Podcast. Former presenter and senior producer, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Sydney. Bachelor of Media, Macquarie University, Sydney. Biography International news has rarely been harder to chair. A single panel on the global economy now has to take in US political volatility, sanctions exposure, supply chain decoupling and a media environment where every claim is contested. The skill that the room needs is editorial: the ability to keep a conversation moving while keeping it accurate. That is the working day of a senior broadcast journalist. Reged Ahmad has spent twenty years inside it, first in Australian community radio, then at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in Sydney, and then in London at the BBC, where she anchored BBC World News TV and presented BBC World Service Radio programmes including The Newsroom and the Global News Podcast. She now sits at Guardian Australia, where she is Host and Senior Producer of Full Story, the masthead’s daily news podcast, with co-host Nour Haydar. She also co-hosts Decoding America with Guardian Australia’s US site editor Jonathan Yerushalmy, a brief that keeps her close to US politics, polling and policy as they move. For a corporate audience, the value is the chair, not the keynote. She is booked to host conferences, moderate executive panels and run Q and A on stage. The benefit is a conversation that holds together under live conditions: a journalist’s instinct for the next question, a presenter’s discipline on time, and a working knowledge of the global news cycle the audience cares about. Key speaking topics International news and current affairs Geopolitics and world affairs US politics and policy Global economic trends and markets Conference hosting and event moderation Panel chairing and on-stage interviews Media, journalism and the public sphere Ideal for Corporate conferences and leadership summits requiring a senior moderator across geopolitics, economics and US politics. Boards, executive committees and investor events running closed-door panels on global risk. Industry awards, gala dinners and brand events that need a broadcast-standard host. Communications, public affairs and ESG functions running stakeholder events with mixed media and policy audiences. Audience outcomes A panel that stays on time, on topic and on the record, with sharper answers from senior speakers. A clean editorial through-line that an audience can recall and repeat after the session. Difficult or sensitive questions handled in a way that protects the speaker, the brand and the agenda. A live event that reads at broadcast standard for film crews, sponsors and internal communications teams.

Why organisations work with Rebecca Jane A founder story that is genuinely unusual: an all-female private investigation firm launched at twenty-four, scaled into national media coverage, and sold in 2018. Direct experience of running a consumer-facing business through personal upheaval, including divorce and the collapse of a previous property enterprise. A published HarperCollins memoir, The Real Lady Detective Agency, that gives the after-dinner content a documented spine rather than a stitched-together speech. Comfort with national audiences from sustained appearances on ITV’s This Morning, BBC Radio, Dragons’ Den and Big Brother, which translates into stage presence in front of large rooms. Biography highlights Founder of The Lady Detective Agency, established 2009, sold 2018. Author of The Real Lady Detective Agency: A True Story, HarperCollins, January 2013. Pitched on BBC’s Dragons’ Den, Series 10, 30 September 2012. Housemate on Channel 5’s Big Brother UK Series 18 in 2017. Regular national media contributor: The Daily Mail, Daily Star on Sunday, BBC Radio, ITV’s This Morning. Biography The Lady Detective Agency began in 2009 as a one-person operation in Lancashire. Rebecca Jane was twenty-four, recently divorced, and had just lost a property business. The agency went on to become one of the UK’s better-known female-led private investigation firms, with national newspaper coverage and broadcast features following within a few years. Her 2013 HarperCollins memoir The Real Lady Detective Agency set out the story in book form, including the surveillance work, the honey-trap operations and the personal arc that produced the company. The book is the spine of her speaking material and the source of most of the after-dinner content she now performs for corporate audiences. Television followed the publishing track. She pitched on Dragons’ Den in 2012, took part in Big Brother in 2017, and remained a regular on ITV’s This Morning and BBC Radio across the decade. The agency was sold in 2018, freeing her to work full-time on speaking, writing and media. What buyers get is a coherent founder narrative with a sellable arc: a young entrepreneur, an uncomfortable subject matter, a business built and exited, and a ten-year media career on top of it. The content is biographical rather than framework-driven, which is the basis on which to commission her. Key speaking topics Female entrepreneurship and start-up Personal resilience and recovery Building a business in an unconventional sector Media and public profile for founders Customer trust in sensitive consumer services Selling a founder-led business Ideal for Corporate after-dinner audiences looking for a strong personal story rather than an analytical keynote. Women-in-business networks and female founder events. Conferences on entrepreneurship, scale-up and exit, where a first-person account is wanted alongside expert speakers. Audience outcomes A first-hand account of what running a small consumer-facing business actually looks like through divorce and reinvention. A view of the UK private investigation sector from the inside, including how the agency was built and how it was eventually sold. A worked example of how national media exposure can be used by a founder to grow a small consumer brand. A motivational close grounded in a documented personal story rather than borrowed material.