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Meet the Question Time Panel Have your say: submit your question for ACT’s very own Question Time
What do you want to ask the panel about the future of business?
Part of the ACT Annual Conference this year will be a Question Time fashioned panel discussion and, as an attendee, we would like to ask you to submit your own questions for the panel.
All questions will be taken into account by both facilitator Andrew Neil and members of the ACT. Those selected will have the opportunity to ask the panel directly on the day.
Simply submit a question to Lara Brauer with your name and contact details (you will also be required to be attending the conference on April 30 at 10.10am). Closing date for questions will be Monday 21 April.
Andrew Neil, CEO, Press Holdings Media, Chairman, ITP and BBC Broadcaster
Andrew Neil’s world-wide experience, coupled with his innate understanding of world media makes him a first class speaker over a wide range of topics including his dramatic vision of the future world of work, Electronic Commerce and the future for Europe. He pinpoints the new qualities needed and changes required that are essential to be successful in the future.
At the helm of The Sunday Times through much of the 1980’s and 1990’s, Andrew Neil had probably the highest public profile of any British Newspaper Editor this century. It is his ability to provoke discussion and challenge how people think that makes him a formidable communicator and leader. He is a witty and insightful speaker on The Information Revolution, Competing in the Electronic World, Leadership, The Learning Organisation, Change Management, and European Economy & Monetary Union
Sahar Hashemi, Co-Founder, Coffee Republic
Founded Coffee Republic, the UK's first US style coffee bar chain with her brother and built it into one of the UK’s most recognised high street brands with a turnover of £30m. Giving up highly professional jobs, she a lawyer in London and he an investment banker in New York, they staked everything on a dream and made Coffee Republic one of the main players in the ‘coffee revolution’ that transformed a nation of tea drinkers into one obsessed with ‘triple decaf half-caf lattes'.
Sahar left the day-to-day management of Coffee Republic in 2001 and has written a book called ‘Anyone Can Do It – Building Coffee Republic From Our Kitchen Table’ which tackles some of the fears and answers some of the elusive questions about what it really takes to become an entrepreneur. Its a personal story about two people who stopped ‘thinking about it’ and ‘did it’. ‘Anyone Can Do It’ has reached #1 on the Amazon business chart. It is ‘suggested reading’ for the London Business School entrepreneurship course.
In 2005 Sahar launched Skinny Candy, a high profile brand of sugar free sweets. It has already received wide press coverage and is available across big department store chains throughout UK.
Angela Knight CBE, CEO, British Bankers’ Association
After leaving Bristol University with an honours degree in chemistry, Angela worked for the American industrial gas company Air Products Ltd. She was the product development manager for the application and sales of nitrogen as an inert carrier during the treatment of ferrous metal components.
She went on to set up and was Chief Executive of a specialist contract heat treatment company treating precision engineering components - Cook & Knight Metallurgical Processors Ltd - and associated process plant manufacturing company.
From 1987 to 1992 she was Councillor and Chief Whip on Sheffield City Council. She entered Parliament in 1992 as MP for Erewash and was Economic Secretary to the Treasury between 1995 and 1997, when she lost her seat at the General Election. She was the Chief Executive of the Association of Private Client Investment Managers and Stockbrokers from September 1997 to December 2006.
She is currently the Chief Executive of the British Bankers Association. She is also a non-executive director on the boards of LogicaCMG, IFSL, and Brewin Dolphin and a trust member of the Port of London Authority.
Chris Skinner, Chairman, The Financial Services Club
Chris Skinner is an independent commentator on the financial markets and Chief Executive of Balatro. He is Chair of the European networking group the Financial Services Club, and a co-founder of the website Shaping Tomorrow. He is well-known for his regular columns in a variety of media, including the Banker magazine, and Blogs on theFinanSer.com. He is the author of several books including "The Future of Banking", “The Future of Finance” and "The Future of Investing". The latter two focus upon Europe’s payments and investments directives, the PSD and MiFID.
Robert Waugh, Head of UK Equities, Scottish Widows
Robert has led the UK equity team at Scottish Widows Investment Partnership since late 2003. He has a strong track record, based on over 20 years’ experience in fund management with a focus on running higher return mandates on behalf of institutional clients.
He also manages two unconstrained portfolios and is active in the alternative investment arena, running absolute funds for both retail and institutional clients. Robert was previously head of UK equities at Edinburgh Fund Managers and prior to that spent 15 years at Philip & Drew Fund Management, latterly as head of specialist UK equities.
Trevor Williams, Chief Economist, Lloyds TSB
Trevor joined Lloyds bank from the UK civil service (Government Economic Service) where he worked as an economist after being a lecturer. He is now Chief Economist at Lloyds TSB Corporate. The Corporate Markets economics team supports the bank’s trading and sales activities.
He writes for various Lloyds TSB publications and articles for other publications including Moneyfacts, City AM, the Express newspaper, Real Finance and trade journals. He regularly appears on radio and TV to represent the economic views of the Bank, and to be interviewed on current economic issues.
Trevor Williams is a member of the Shadow Monetary Policy Committee. The Shadow MPC is an elite group of independent leading monetary economists and from June 2007, Trevor was voted in to become one of the nine voting members, and one of only four City-based members, with the remaining being academics.
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