Older BDAS events

View a list of the leaders of industry who spoke at the Bristol Distinguished Address Series (BDAS) from 2008 to early 2016.

View all previous BDAS events by year

Early 2016

  • Sir Howard Davies, Chairman, Royal Bank of Scotland, "Financing British Companies: evolution or revolution?" – 09 March 2016
  • John Manzoni, Chief Executive, Civil Service, "Improving a Great National Institution, the Plan for Modern Public Service" – 02 March 2016
  • Lord Bichard KCB, Non–Executive Chairman, National Audit Office, "Creative leadership" – 27 January 2016
  • Sir Stephen, Vice–Chair of Business, New Europe, "Why do we British find the EU so hard to swallow?" – 20 January 2016

2015

  • Dennis Hogan, Managing Director, Compass Group UK and Ireland, "Inspiring a growth culture" – 18 November 2015
  • Sir Richard Needham, The Earl of Kilmorey, "A tale of two cities, Bristol and Belfast, two of the greatest and most successful industrial ports of the Empire" – 12 November 2015
  • Rick Haythornthwaite, Non–executive Chairman, FTSE 100 Centrica plc, "Disruption and the future of leadership" – 07 October 2015
  • Mike Clasper CBE, Chairman, Coats Group plc, President, CMI, "From Accidental to Professional; A Mission for Management" – 30 September 2015.
  • Sir Peter Bazalgette, Chair, Arts Council England, Former Chair, English National Opera and Crossness Engines, "What is the Grand Partnership?" – 15 April 2015
  • Angela Knight, Former Chief Executive Officer, Energy UK, "Is Energy just another Power Game?" – 25 March 2015
  • Paul Boissier, Chief Executive, RNLI, "Keeping the Lifeboats Afloat" – 18 March 2015
  • James Timpson OBE, Chief Executive, Timpson, "Con to Cobbler" – 04 March 2015
  • Matthew Layton, Managing Partner, Clifford Chance LLP, "A journey of change – past, present and future – the development of the global legal market" – 25 February 2015
  • Peter Mather, Group Regional Vice President, Europe and Head of Country, UK BP, "Energy: A Challenging Future" – 11 February 2015

2014

  • Ann Francke, Chief Executive Officer, CMI, "Stop Managing. Start Achieving. Why Management Needs a Makeover" – 13 November 2014
  • Sir Charlie Mayfield, Chairman, John Lewis Partnership – 04 November 2014
  • Dr Tony Cocker, CEO, E.ON UK, "The importance of trust to businesses and their customers – why getting it right really matters" – 28 October 2014
  • Stephen Varley, Chairman, EY, "What does it take to be a good leader?" – 23 October 2014
  • Leo Quinn, CEO, QinetiQ Group, "Cultural transformation – the key to raising performance" – 9 October 2014
  • John Cridland CBE, Director General, CBI – 18 June 2014
  • Xavier Rolet, CEO, London Stock Exchange Group, "Making Britain great: Are we supporting the companies that will determine the UK's economic future?"– 7 May 2014
  • Dr Louise Makin, CEO, BTG plc, "Building a specialist healthcare company: a leadership perspective" – 9 April 2014
  • Sir Win Bischoff, Chairman, Lloyds Banking Group and the Financial Reporting Council, "The Future of UK Banking in the Global Context" – 26 March 2014
  • Simon Collins, Chairman and Senior Partner, KPMG, "How to get business to be great again" – 20 March 2014
  • Air Vice–Marshal Julian Young CB OBE,Director Technical, DE&S, "Knowledge and Expertise: Up-skilling in a Complex Environment" – 19 March 2014
  • Sir Richard Broadbent, Chairman, Tesco PLC,  "Individuals and organisations – the reality of corporate governance" – 27 February 2014
  • Rosemary Squire, Co–founder and Joint CEO, Ambassador Theatre Group Ltd (ATG), "Ambassador Theatre Group: from Woking to the World" – 12 February 2014

2013

  • Rupert Soames, Chief Executive, Aggreko, "The Energy Crunch" at Bristol City Hall – 20 November 2013
  • Peter Ayliffe, Chairman, Monitise plc, and former President and Chief Executive Officer, Visa Europe, "The Leadership Challenge of Growing Businesses in the Digital Age" at Bristol City Hall – 13 November 2013
  • Frances O'Grady, General Secretary, Trades Union Congress (TUC), "Putting fairer workplaces at the heart of a stronger economy" at Bristol City Hall – 30 October 2013
  • Sir Nicholas Young, CEO, British Red Cross, "A personal insight into the leadership challenges of one of the UK's leading charities and the role of the CEO within the world's largest humanitarian movement" at Bristol City Hall – 17 October 2013
  • Jon Moynihan OBE, Executive Chairman, PA Consulting Group, "Reflecting on the Continuing Economic Decline of the West" at Bristol City Hall – 9 October 2013
  • Geoff Mulgan, Chief Executive, Nesta, "Nesta: 21st Century Economies – Amplifying the Best, and Reining in the Worst" – 10 April 2013
  • Carole Stone, Chair, YouGov Cambridge Advisory Board, "Good Networking – a Meeting of Minds" – 27 March 2013
  • Sir Roger Bone, President, Boeing UK, "Global Innovation – Boeing and the UK" – 7 March 2013
  • Ian Powell, Chairman and Senior Partner, PwC, "Trust in business; who needs it?" – 26 February 2013
  • Simon Walker, Director General, Institute of Directors, "Embracing, Understanding and Capitalising on Change" – 20 February 2013
  • David Abraham, Chief Executive, Channel 4, "Channel 4 in a Connected TV world" – 6 February 2013
  • Sir Vernon Ellis, Chairman, British Council, "Building trust in the UK around the world" – January 2013

2012

  • Kevin Murray, Chairman, "Good Relations: The language of leaders" – 14 November 2012
  • Stephen Fear, Managing Director, Fear Group, "Growing your business and exporting to Latin America and the USA" – 24 October 2012
  • Roland Aurich, Chief Executive Officer, Siemens plc and Cluster North West Europe, "Sustainability – More than a green approach" – 17 October 2012
  • Neil Berkett, Chief Executive Officer, Virgin Media, "Leading in a digital world... creating a framework for flexibility" – 10 October 2012
  • Dame Liz Forgan, Chair, Arts Council, "The arts: a serious business" – 18 April 2012
  • Sir Ian Gibson, Chairman, Morrisons plc, "Boards, management teams and big teams" – 27March 2012
  • Christine Hodgson, Chairman, Capgemini UK plc, "Embracing technology for success" – 22 March 2012
  • Peter Rogers, CEO, Babcock plc, "Growth pains" – 22 February 2012
  • Ruby McGregor Smith, Chief Executive Officer, MITIE Group, "New businesses are needed for UK growth – models to help entrepreneurs" – 9 February 2012

2011

  • Cynthia Carroll, Chief Executive, Anglo American plc, "Mining for the Future" – 17 November 2011
  • Terry Morgan CBE, President, CMI, Chairman, Crossrail, "Managers and Leaders – Fit for the Future" – 8 November 2011
  • Ken Hames, BBC, Presenter and Director, Farscape Development, "Inspirational Leadership" – 26 October 2011
  • Willie Walsh, CEO, International Airlines, "Achieving Competitive Advantage" – 12 October 2011
  • Sam Laidlaw, Chief Executive, Centrica plc, "Socially responsible business leadership" – 24 May 2011
  • Brendan Barber, General Secretary, Trades Union Congress (TUC), "From austerity to prosperity" – 6 April 2011
  • Susan Taylor Martin, Managing Director, Thomson Reuters, "The key trends that will shape our corporate world over the next decade" – 31 March 2011
  • David Flory, Deputy CEO, NHS England, "A management of change so big you can see it from space" – 24 March 2011
  • Robert Walker, Chairman, Travis Perkins plc, "Competitive dynamics and competitive advantage; a personal journey" – 9 March 2011

2010

  • Martin McCourt, CEO, Dyson Ltd, "Against The Odds" – 29 November 2010
  • Mike Kinski, Operational Managing Director, Terra Firma Capital Partners Ltd, "Management of Change in Business" – 18 November 2010
  • Lady Susan Rice, Managing Director, Lloyds Banking Group Scotland, "Reconnecting Banking and Values" – 9 November 2010
  • Ian Cheshire, CEO, Kingfisher plc, "Leadership through Teams" – 19 October 2010
  • Will King, CEO, King of Shaves, "The Power of Social Media" – 5 October 2010
  • Sir Mike Rake, Chairman, BT Group plc and EasyJet plc, "Causes and Answers; Pragmatism and Honesty versus Populism" – 1 June 2010
  • Helen Alexander, President, CBI, "Business Trends and Business in the Future" – 15 April 2010
  • Dame Fiona Reynolds, Director General, National Trust, "The National Trust – the Business of Conservation" – 23 March 2010
  • Anthony Habgood, Chairman, Reed Elsevier plc and Whitbreads plc – 9 February 2010

2009

  • Stuart Popham, Senior Partner, Clifford Chance LLP, "An Uncertain Future" – 18 November 2009
  • Bill Grimsey, Chief Executive, Focus (DIY) Ltd – 5 November 2009 
  • Graham Love, Chief Executive, QinetiQ Group plc – 28 October 2009
  • Lord Burns, Chairman, Abbey National plc – 26 March 2009
  • Dr Tom Black, Chief Executive, Detica – 11 March 2009
  • Glen Moreno, Chairman, Pearson plc – 4 March 2009
  • Sir Paul Judge, President, The Chartered Institute of Marketing – 11 February 2009
  • Rod Aldridge, Chairman, The Aldridge Foundation – 27 January 2009

2008

  • Ian Carter, Chief Executive, Hilton International – 3 December 2008
  • Karen Dunnell, UK Government, National Statistician – 19 November 2008
  • Dr Gerard Lyons, Chief Economist, Standard Chartered plc – 6 November 2008
  • Sir Rob Margetts, Chairman, Legal & General group plc – 28 October 2008
  • Dick Olver, Chairman, BAE Systems plc – 12 October 2008
  • Miles Templeman, Director General, Institute of Directors – 12 March 2008
  • Richard Lapthorne, Chairman, Cable and Wireless – 5 March 2008
  • Sir John Parker, Chairman, National Grid plc – 21 February 2008
  • Derek Simpson, General Secretary, Unite the Union, Amicus Section – 12 February 2008
  • Lord Stevenson, Chairman, HBOS plc – 5 February 2008

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