A former marketing director at Pepsi and managing director at HEAD sports, Chris launched his Differentiate strategy consulting firm in 1996. He has helped Mars create the Celebrations chocolate brand and turn Galaxy into the chocolate brand leader in the Middle East. He worked with Scotts to make Miracle Gro the market leader in gardening. He has helped many other CEOs and marketing directors in high-end business services to take their brand to the next level with his distinctive ‘Differentiate’ method.
Chris is also a non-executive director and entrepreneur in the travel industry, and speaks and writes extensively about why businesses must focus on attracting new customers rather than extract more money from existing customers. He speaks regularly at industry conferences and run his own marketing and business events attracting important business decision makers and entrepreneurs.
Timothy Bradshaw has never won the Olympics or sold a multimillion-dollar business. He went to a reasonable school and attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. Since then, he has served as a covert human intelligence officer, attempted to climb Mount Everest, summited the Matterhorn, completed a 70.3 ironman, cycled L’Etape du Tour, raced downhill on skis, ridden the Cresta Run and set up an international business training consultancy, all #BecauseICan.
As a director of Sandstone Communications Tim delivers keynote speaking and leadership training in over 14 different countries and to a global audience in excess of 5000 people annually. He has been listed as a leadership influencer by Linked In and LETG (Legal, Education and Training Group). His client base includes major global brands such as Knight Frank, Mercedes-Benz Middle East, Gateley PLC and Jaguar Land Rover. He has contributed to global in-house leadership development for Daimler Global and Gateley Plc.
He also sponsors aspiring young people striving to achieve their dreams, with 10% of all #BecauseICan profits going towards the cause.’
Sophie Attwood is an award-winning global communications expert specialising within the beauty, wellness and health sectors.
Sophie founded global communications agency Sophie Attwood Communications Ltd in 2017, curating a portfolio of exceptional brands representing trailblazers within their industries. The full-service communications agency has now a garnered a steadfast reputation for developing creative strategies to enable clients to take their communication strategy to the next level.
A leading authority on all things media relations and PR, Sophie is now a highly sought-after strategist for multiple brands, having worked as a Creative Partner with many household names including St Tropez Tan, Marc Jacobs and Colgate.
She not only succeeds in gaining first-class coverage for her clients, but her ethics and integrity are paramount – meaning that she works to advocate industry guidelines and act as a positive influence in a sector which often comes under negative scrutiny.
Berit Lewis is an experienced speaker and mindfulness teacher with degrees in Psychology, Communication, and Vitality and Ageing. After a career as a communication and PR specialist in Denmark and Australia – including 10 years at the Danish Defence – she founded Thriving Life, offering workshops, courses and retreats in mental well-being.
A project professional for over 30 years, Adrian Pyne has led change in 11 industries and in the public sector, in the UK and abroad. The author of books on programme management and agile governance and assurance, he has contributed to the evolution of programme, portfolio and PMO standards and is a regular speaker, visiting lecturer, blogger and researcher.
Athena Peppes is a futurist and economist, serving as Director of Futures at Beacon Thought Leadership and advisor at BossUp AI, a startup pioneering benchmarks for AI readiness. She researches, writes, and speaks about emerging technologies, especially artificial intelligence, and how they are reshaping economies, work, and society. She is a regular speaker at international conferences and leadership forums, including the KIMRA AI Conference, The Forward Institute, and Rialto’s Board Briefing series. Her audiences have included senior leaders from Centrica, Bupa, Virgin, Nationwide, Primark, Channel 4, the UK Space Agency, and government. She also appears on radio and podcasts, where she explores what AI and emerging technologies mean for everyday life and business.
Athena began her career as an economist and has over 15 years’ experience advising senior executives on emerging trends. During a decade at Accenture, she co-founded its Business Futures approach and worked with Fortune 500 companies and public institutions. Her research has featured at the World Economic Forum, B20, W20, IBEC, and the CBI, and in outlets including Harvard Business Review, Rotman Magazine, and The European Business Review.
Richard Jeffery qualified in Systems and Management at City University London, researching and applying technology support for decision-making processes based around John Warfield and Peter Checkland’s system-thinking theories. Working at PA Consulting Group and Coopers and Lybrand, he specialized in organizational change management and operational effectiveness in financial services.
Todd Unger is the Chief Experience Officer of the American Medical Association, where he has driven record growth and gained international recognition for the AMA’s CX program. He is the co-creator and host of AMA Update, the organization’s award-winning daily video/podcast series,
available on the AMA’s YouTube channel and on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
A transformational marketing and digital executive, Unger’s experience places him at the nexus of marketing, content, e-commerce, technology,
product development and customer service—the building blocks of today’s customer experience.
Unger’s career began at marketing and advertising powerhouses Procter & Gamble and Leo Burnett Company. He then leapt into the exploding digital world as a product manager in the early days of America Online and served as General Manager of AOL’s local city guide operation, Digital City. As a Chief Digital Officer and CMO, he’s led digital marketing, product, and content teams across large and small media companies, including Lifetime Television, Time Inc., and the Daily Racing Form.
Unger is a frequent speaker and podcast guest on the topics of marketing and customer experience. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.
https://www.toddunger.com/
Colin Bell, MSc is a strategist, systems thinker and economic development leader with over 20 years’ experience helping public, private and social sector organizations design strategy, engage stakeholders, and deliver measurable change. He is co-founder and director of Fellshore, a specialist consultancy working with purpose-driven organizations across the UK.
Formerly Business and Sector Growth Director at the North East Local Enterprise Partnership, Colin led a complex and multi disciplined delivery partnership of over 75 organizations towards a shared regional vision, and directed flagship programmes in innovation, scaleups, and sector development. He has advised Mayoral Combined Authorities, national growth initiatives, universities, and place-based partnerships.
He draws on behavioural science, systems thinking, and lived experience to help leaders turn insight into influence and intention into impact.
He lives in Cumbria, UK with his wife, three children and dog Milo.
Jeremy Nicholls has spent his career addressing inequality, arguing that one of the fundamental causes is how the accounting system calculates profit/
He became an accountant to support the Sandinistas in Nicaragua, training with PwC. He spent four years as a house parent before starting a regeneration consultancy in Liverpool and then co-founding and becoming CEO of Social Value International (SVI), a global community of social accountants with a mission to change the way the world accounts for value. He left to spend time as the assurance framework lead for the UNDP’s SDG Impact Standards, designed to support organizations seeking to maximise their contribution to sustainability before returning as an advisor.
He is an Ashoka fellow, a honorary research fellow at the University of Liverpool, a member of Accounting for Sustainability’s expert panel and ICAEWs non financial assurance committee and an ambassador for the Capitals Coalition.
He has researched and written widely in the field of impact accounting, including regular contributions to Pioneers Post.
