Your Summit Agenda

Our carefully curated agenda features intimate fireside chats, dynamic panel discussions and focused breakout sessions where successful founders and CEOs share their triumphs, setbacks and wisdom. 



Main stage
Focus session
Break
9:00 – 9:30
Welcome Address
Main Stage

Join Business Leader’s editor-in-chief Graham Ruddick as he sets the scene for a day of transformative insights.

Graham Ruddick
Editor-in-chief, Business Leader
9:30 – 10:00
Lessons on Scaling Your Business
Main Stage

Simon Arora and his brothers bought the struggling discount retail chain, B&M, for £525,000 in 2004. Today, it is valued at more than £5bn and is part of the FTSE 100. In our first keynote, he will tell the story of how B&M went from an ailing medium-sized business in Blackpool to one of the biggest companies in the UK, what he learned along the way and his advice for leaders wanting to scale up.

Simon Arora
Former CEO, B&M Retail
10:00 – 10:20
What the Budget Means for You
Main Stage

The UK Budget has a profound impact on medium-sized businesses. In this session, we will dive into the implications and offer you practical advice on how to position your company for growth.

10:20 – 10:40
Building Excellence in Teams
Main Stage

Your people are the most important part of your business – so getting them to work well together is critical. In this fireside chat, leadership and mindset expert Catherine Baker talks to Brentford football club’s Ben Ryan about how to build a team that excels and why performance is more than the sum of its parts.

Catherine Baker
Founder, Sport & Beyond
Ben Ryan
Performance Director, Brentford FC
10:40 - 11:10
Morning Refreshments
11:10 - 11:30
Keynote
Main Stage

Join us for an exclusive session with one of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs as they discuss how they scaled their business.

11:30 – 11:50
8 Secrets to Building a Billion-Pound Business
Main Stage

Richard Harpin founded HomeServe in 1993 with an investment of just £50,000. Thirty years later, he sold the company to the private equity firm Brookfield Asset Management for £4.1bn. Here, he will reflect on his journey and share his eight secrets to build a billion-pound business.

Richard Harpin
Founder, HomeServe
Morning focus sessions

Take a deeper dive into the topics impacting your business as you scale. Pre-book the session you would like to attend.

12:00 - 12:40
Track 1
Leadership – Self
Focus Room 1

Your people are the most important part of your business – so getting them to work well together is critical. In this fireside chat, leadership and mindset expert Catherine Baker talks to Brentford football club’s Ben Ryan about how to build a team that excels and why performance is more than the sum of its parts.

Lucy Yeomans
Founder and CEO, Drest
Raina Sunnerson
CEO, Agincare
Richard Chambers
Founder and CEO, Get a Drip
Jarmila Yu
Founder, YUnique Marketing
12:00 - 12:40
Track 2
Funding – Competitive Dynamics
Focus Room 2

Simon Arora and his brothers bought the struggling discount retail chain, B&M, for £525,000 in 2004. Today, it is valued at more than £5bn and is part of the FTSE 100. In our first keynote, he will tell the story of how B&M went from an ailing medium-sized business in Blackpool to one of the biggest companies in the UK, what he learned along the way and his advice for leaders wanting to scale up.

Jamie Mitchell
Founder and CEO, Low6
Melissa Snover
Founder and CEO, GetNouris3d
Peter Briffett
Founder and CEO, Wagestream
12:00 - 12:40
Track 3
Talent & Recruitment
Focus Room 3

Take a deeper dive into the topics impacting your business as you scale. Pre-book the session you would like to attend.

Tessa Clarke
Founder and CEO, Olio
Richard North
Founder and CEO, Wow! Stuff
Daniel Dunn
Founder and CEO, Paperplanes
Dougal Shaw
Senior Correspondent, Business Leader
12:40 – 13:40
Lunch
13:40 – 14:00
Keynote
Main Stage

Join Business Leader’s editor-in-chief Graham Ruddick as he talks through the day and shares what he has learned.

14:00 – 14:30
View from the top: Middle-market fund opportunities
Main Stage

In this session, we’ll be getting the inside view on accessing capital, navigating lending criteria and securing the best financing solutions for those running medium-sized companies.

14:30 – 15:00
Keynote
Main Stage

Join us for an exclusive session with one of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs as they discuss how they scaled their business.

Afternoon focus sessions

Take a deeper dive into the topics impacting your business as you scale. Pre-book the session you would like to attend.

15:10 - 15:40
Track 1
Marketing through the Founder/CEO lens
Focus Room 1

Take a deeper dive into the topics impacting your business as you scale. Pre-book the session you would like to attend.

Camilla Barnard
Founder and CEO, Rude Health
Ben Jeffries
Founder and CEO, Influencer.com
Dominic Ponniah
Founder and CEO, Cleanology
Jennifer Quigley-Jones
CEO, Digital Voices
Jarmila Yu
Founder, YUnique Marketing
15:10 - 15:40
Track 2
Leadership – Teams
Focus Room 2

Join us for an exclusive session with one of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs as they discuss how they scaled their business.

Lewis Blitz
Founder and CEO, Skinny Dip
Carol Shanahan
Founder and CEO, Synthetic Solutions
Natasha Frangos
Managing Partner, HaysMac
Jordan Brompton
Co-founder, MyEnergi
Kate Davis – Moderator
Executive coach
15:10 - 15:40
Track 3
Funding – Investment Planning
Focus Room 3

Take a deeper dive into the topics impacting your business as you scale. Pre-book the session you would like to attend.

Joanna Jensen
Founder and CEO, Childs Farm
Gurinder Dhillon
Founder and CEO, Otto Cars
Sam Heaton
CEO, Stannp.com
Bernhard Niesner
Founder, Busuu
Sarah Vizard – Moderator
Deputy Editor-in-chief, Business Leader
15.40 - 16.00
Afternoon refreshments
16:00 – 16:20
Fireside chat with Euan Blair
Main Stage

Euan Blair co-founded the apprenticeships company Multiverse. In this session, he will discuss scaling his business with our editor-in-chief Graham Ruddick.

Euan Blair
Founder and CEO, Multiverse
16:20 – 16:40
A visionary’s view
Main Stage

Tom Beahon set up Castore alongside his younger brother Phil in 2016. Just eight years later, it is worth almost £1bn with revenues rising to £200m. In this session, he will be joined by a special guest from the world of sport to discuss leadership, performance, and what motivates them both.

Tom Beahon
Co-founder and CEO, Castore
16:40 – 17:00
Learning from our US neighbours
Main Stage

The US is twice as good at building large companies as the UK. In this panel, we will hear from those who have expanded to the US and explore key business strategies from across the pond that could help to create growth for UK businesses.

Joanna Knight
CEO, Moneypenny
Tom Gozney
Founder and CEO, Gozney
John Stapleton
Entrepreneur
17:00 – 17:20
Closing Keynote
Main Stage

For the final session of the day, we’ll be joined by a pioneering industry leader who will give their insight into accelerating growth and making the most of the opportunities in the UK’s evolving business landscape.

17:20 – 17:30
Wrap-up
Main Stage

Join Business Leader’s editor-in-chief Graham Ruddick as he talks through the day and shares what he has learned.