Artistes

Nima is a BBC World presenter and respected middle eastern journalist based in Dubai.

Nima Abu-Wardeh

Lord Paddy Ashdown is the former leader of the Liberal Democrats who went on to become High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina. Former Royal Marine and Chinese speaking diplomat.

Paddy Ashdown

Former BBC journalist and Communications Director at the Bank of England, Nils Blythe has extensive experience as a keynote speaker and conference chairman.

Nils Blythe

Conservative MP for Grantham and Stamford and author of 'Which Way's Up? The future for coalition Britain and how to get there'. Nick's themes for public speaking include the future of the coalition; modernising the tory brand; brics -an opportunity for Britain

Nick Boles

Known for seeing patterns and deciphering the underlying stories that influence the planet in these times of great uncertainty, Benjamin has been called a modern day see-er.

Benjamin Butler

Best known as a Dragon's Den panellist and CEO of private equity firm Hamilton Bradshaw. He founded the Alexander Mann Group in 1985, an executive head hunting firm with a turnover in excess of £300m and operations in 50 countries, which he sold in 2002.

James Caan

A career diplomat with particular knowledge and experience of the Middle East and south-east Asia. Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles has been British Ambassador in Israel, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan. Now working for BAE Systems as international business development director in the Middle East and south-east Asia.

Sherard Cowper-Coles

Kenn is an author and Senior Editor at The Economist responsible for data and digital products (website, apps and new product development) and an acknowledged expert on 'Big Data'

Kenneth Cukier

Navdip Dhariwal has recently returned from Delhi where she was the BBC's South Asia correspondent. She covered the region from India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh and reported stories such as the tsunami in Sri Lanka and the Kashmir dispute. She has additionally reported on India's expanding economy, the Nepalese coup and the surprise result of the Indian election in 2004.

Navdip Dhariwal

With twenty years experience in Specialist Security with extensive experience providing and advising international corporations, high-net worth individuals, celebrities, heads of state and foreign royal families, Will is perfectly placed to talk about security and the world's hotspots.

Will Geddes

Radio 4 Today programme presenter, formerly on BBC World. A long term friend of the company, Mishal Is currently writing a book due to be published next year. The book aims to "inspire, motivate, champion and encourage all women to reach their potential, at work or in life" by focusing on "the practical skills that make a difference". The guide will be informed by her own experiences and interviews.

Mishal Husain

Lecturer at the LSE specialising in international macroeconomics, finance and the Chinese economy. Her global banking experience includes working for the New York Fed, the World Bank, IMF, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan.

Keyu Jin

Was UK Minister of State for Trade & Investment until August 2008. Prior to this he was Director General of the CBI and appeared in the latest incarnation of the BBC’s Troubleshooter programme, following in the footsteps of Sir John Harvey Jones. A board member at Jaguar Land Rover, HSBC and Triumph Motorcycles, he is an enthusiastic champion of British business and has led trade delegations to the Far East.

Digby Jones

James is Emerging Markets Editor at the Financial Times, the main focus of which is in several areas: economic growth and development trends in emerging markets, connections between emerging markets (particularly China and the outside world), EM demographic themes and social trends.

James Kynge

Founder and Director of Lalcap Ltd, a London based consultancy specialising in business with India. A stockbroker and accountant who is passionate about UK-India investments ties. An authority on India's economy.

Deepak Lalwani OBE

Former Chancellor of the Exchequer on Black Wednesday whose staff included David Cameron. Now in the Lords, Lord Lamont is still a regular contributor to economic debates and a sought after commentator.

Norman Lamont

Former Chief executive of Tesco since 1997, Leahy is his own best example for his philosophy for a successful business career, having worked his way up from stacking shelves during school holidays. He is known for transforming the supermarket industry in Britain.

Terry Leahy

Tony Blair's Middle East envoy. Lord Levy is a successful businessman and one of the UK's top fundraisers, having raised millions for both political and charitable causes.

Michael Levy

Pinky acts as development consultant with some of the major food companies in Europe including Sharwoods, and advises on a range of Indian food products stocked by Sainsburys, Morrisons and Tesco. She also founded and chairs The Asian Women of Achievement Awards.

Pinky Lilani

Sir John Major - Former prime minister and international keynote speaker on globalisation and the changing world.

John Major

Lord Peter Mandelson Former Labour Party's Director of Campaigns & Communications. He served in a number of Cabinet positions under Tony Blair playing a leading role in his leadership campaign and was the UK's Deputy Prime Minister under Gordon Brown.

Peter Mandelson

Former MP and cabinet minister now a successful businessman, journalist and broadcaster. Popular speaker at corporate events with a lot of experience of doing business in the Middle East.

David Mellor

Chairman, Goldman Sachs Asset Management (2010-13); Head of Global Economics, Commodities and Strategy Research, Goldman Sachs (2001-2010). Creator of the BRICs acronym. Author of The Growth Map. Talks on international economics and financial topics.

Jim O'Neill

Lord Chris Patten is Chancellor of Newcastle and Oxford Universities. He was the last governor of Hong Kong, after which he was European Commissioner for External Relations before authoring a report on policing in Northern Ireland.

Chris Patten

Nisha is a journalist with over two decades of experience at the BBC, on the Money Programme, Panorama and as a news anchor on BBC World News. A popular host, she is also an experienced speaker, talking about how to improve your presentation and networking skills, so to better engage with your colleagues and clients.

Nisha Pillai

Former MP and cabinet minister who has now built a successful career in the arts and media as a popular BBC TV presenter, particularly with his series Great British Railway Journeys.

Michael Portillo

Commentator and lecturer on US foreign policy and world affairs; broadcaster, journalist and financial communications strategist. James P. Rubin served under President Clinton as Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs and has been a top policy adviser and special negotiator.

James P. Rubin

Stephen Sackur presents BBC Hardtalk which is broadcast on BBC News 24 and BBC World News. He is a former foreign correspondent who had postings in Washington, Brussels and the Middle East, having started his career in Eastern Europe. Has an encyclopaedic knowledge of world events and what makes the world go around.

Stephen Sackur

Journalist for almost 20 years, working for the likes of Bloomberg and CNN, she is now at BBC World and BBC Arabic service. She has also held communication roles for NGOs and the Saudi government. Her areas of expertise include marine conservation, the Arab world and the energy sector. Fluent in English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Arabic (3 dialects); she also speaks some Russian.

Brigitte Scheffer

Author of Working with Americans, US born Allyson Stewart-Allen is a world authority on international marketing, US business and inter-cultural working advising European and US organisations growing their presence on either side of the Atlantic.

Allyson Stewart-Allen

Joe is a China expert, having lived and worked there for over ten years. He was editor-in-chief of the China Economic Quarterly (CEO), the leading journal of the Chinese economy and foreign investment in China. He was a founding director of the Asian advisory firm Dragonomics. He is a frequent public speaker worldwide.

Joe Studwell

Director of the Greater London Group, a research centre at the London School of Economics. He is a regular contributor to the media on the economy and local government.

Tony Travers

Former chairman of the FSA, now senior fellow at the Institute for New Economic Thinking, founded by George Soros. An expert on global banking regulation, he also has a deep knowledge of China and its financial system.

Adair Turner

Combining international private sector experience with deep insight into global politics, Marco Vicenzino is a leading expert on world events. He has featured on CNN, BBC, NBC, Fox, Al Jazeera and in The New York Times, Financial Times, International Herald Tribune, Le Figaro, El Pais, and the South China Morning Post.

Marco Vicenzino

Justin presents the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 having returned from the States where he was North America Editor. He is a popular conference and awards host.

Justin Webb