Mark Dixon is one of Europe’s best-known entrepreneurs. He is the founder and Chief Executive of Regus Group, which he set up in 1989, and it is now the world’s largest provider of flexible workspaces. Currently at 1400 business centres in 100 countries, through constant innovation, Regus has created not just a new business model but an entirely new industry... read full bio
Founder of the social networking sites Foursquare and Dodgeball Dennis Crowley is a well-known entrepreneur in the internet world. Foursquare is a location-based social app that recommends places for users to go based on their previous browsing history or purchases, and Dodgeball was a similar app in which users would text in their locations and the service would notify them... read full bio
Rod Beckstrom is an entrepreneur and catalyst, who has successfully created new businesses and changed established ones through his creative ideas, powerful concepts and passion. He co-authored the bestselling book The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations, which presents a new model for analyzing organizations, leadership styles and competitive strategy. Rod co-founded CATS Software Inc. during... read full bio
Unable to find natural personal-care products for themselves and their five children, Tom and Kate Chappell decided to make their own. They borrowed $5,000 from a friend to start Tom's of Maine and began making Clearlake, the country's first phosphate-free laundry detergent, in 1970. Five years later, Tom's of Maine premiered the country's first natural toothpaste to hit the fledgling... read full bio
Sinclair Beecham graduated from the Polytechnic of Central London in 1983 after studying Urban Estate Management, where he met Julian Metcalfe. He then joined Crest Estates, a property developer as development and marketing executive. In 2002 McDonald's reached an agreement to acquire a minority interest in Pret A Manger. Founders Julian Metcalfe and Sinclair Beecham said. In 2009 Sinclair Beecham... read full bio
The world expert on competitiveness, Stephane Garelli, is credited with developing the theory and research in this area. In addition to being Professor Emeritus of World Competitiveness at the University of Lausanne, he founded the World Competitiveness Center at the IMD (Institute of Management Development) in Lausanne. Professor Garelli has strong ties to the business community. He was also... read full bio
During his five years as the US-based Chairman/CEO of Burger King, Barry Gibbons received international acclaim for his work. Having retired from big business, he is now a successful author, speaker and is co-founder of the UK publishing business Infinite Ideas. He has written six business books, one on public speaking and one novel. He has given over 250 speeches,... read full bio
One of the longest serving and most successful leaders of a blue-chip company and a highly regarded businessman, Sir Stuart Hampson was chairman of the John Lewis Partnership for 14 years until his retirement in March 2007. A popular and likeable businessman, Sir Stuart joined the partnership in February 1982 following a twelve year career in the Civil Service. After... read full bio
Mike Harris is co-founder and Executive Chairman of online identity experts Garlik, who develop software and services to help control and protect your personal information and identity online. Mike has created three major consumer businesses: Egg plc, the UK's first online bank; Firstdirect, the world's first telephone banking operation; and Mercury Communications, the UK's second largest telecommunications operator. He turned... read full bio
Ken Hughes is the top retail shopper and consumer behavioralist of Ireland. Over the past 12 years, as the founding Director of Glacier Consulting, he has pioneered developments in shopper behavior insight, particularly in the fields of ethnography and biometric shopper research. His expertise in these fields, together with strong knowledge from his consultancy experience in Category Management and Shopper... read full bio
Nobuyuki Idei was a former Chairman and Group Chief Executive Officer of Sony Corporation until the 7th March 2005. He is also a director of General Motors, Accenture, Baidu, Yoshimoto Kogyo and Nestle. After a stroke sidelined former chairman Akio Morita, Sony CEO and new chairman Norio Ohga selected Idei to be the next president, a choice that raised eyebrows... read full bio
Mats Jansson is a Swedish businessperson. He was Chief Executive Officer of SAS Group from 2007 to 2010. Jansson was educated in economics and sociology at the University College of _rebro, before he started a career in ICA, where he held a range of senior positions from 1973 to 1994. He then worked as CEO of Catena until 1999 when... read full bio
Luke Oliver Johnson, is a British serial entrepreneur, best known for his involvement with Pizza Express. He is a former chairman of the Royal Society of Arts and Channel 4. He writes regular columns for the Financial Times newspaper and Management Today magazine. Johnson calls himself a projector", in line with the 17th century term for a man involved in... read full bio
Julian Marley is a reggae musician from Barbados. He is a grammy award nominated musician also known for his contributions to other artists music. Julian contributed a vast range of musical elements to singer Lauryn Hill's Grammy Award winning album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, which was recorded at Tuff Gong studio's in Jamaica. The Roots Rock Reggae Festival in... read full bio
Luke James is an American singer-songwriter. Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, he began his musical career singing background for R&B artist Tyrese and later writing songs for recording artists such as Chris Brown, Britney Spears, Keri Hilson and Justin Bieber. Under the management of record producer Danja, James released his first mixtape, #Luke, in 2011. The mixtape's critically acclaimed single... read full bio
Artist Alarico Zucchi, who is based in Milan, was heavily influenced by the raw, forward-leaning sound of 90s Techno. He began his path into electronic music by playing as a DJ in clubs and studying music production. The launch of "Alarico" came after numerous Techno subgenres had been investigated beforehand. The creation of the alias was an attempt to express a... read full bio
Morris Chestnut is an American film and television actor. He is known for his roles in the films Boyz n the Hood (1991), The Best Man (1999) and its sequel (2013), The Brothers (2001), Two Can Play That Game (2001), Like Mike (2002), Ladder 49 (2004), The Perfect Holiday (2007), Not Easily Broken (2009), Think Like A Man (2012), and... read full bio
Marcus Roberts is an American jazz pianist who has been blind since his youth due to glaucoma and cataracts. Focusing on older, pre-1950 traditional styles, he has recorded over twenty full-length albums and has been featured on even more with other musicians. Roberts' own late-'80s and '90s albums for RCA/Novus, particularly the 1990 release Alone with Three Giants, detailed his... read full bio
Dianne Reeves is the pre-eminent jazz vocalist in the world today. As a result of her virtuosity, improvisational prowess and unique jazz and R&B stylings, Dianne has received the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance for three consecutive recordings – a Grammy first in any vocal category. Dianne’s magical, timeless voice, exceptional personality and the sheer force of her... read full bio
Laura Marling is a folk singer-songwriter and musician from Eversley, Hampshire, England. Her debut album Alas, I Cannot Swim, her second album I Speak Because I Can, and her fourth album Once I Was An Eagle were all nominated for the Mercury Music Prize in 2008, 2010, and 2013, respectively. She won Best Female Solo Artist at the 2011 Brit... read full bio
