The speaking world is filled with outstanding experts who have carved out their fortunes and successes in all corners of business and industry. From leaders of multinational banks to sporting directors and everything in between, JLA grants you access to an enormous roster of business speakers who will invest their time and energy into your event.
In doing so, these transformative business leaders will share invaluable insights on vision and innovation, inspiring and motivating your attendees to take these lessons into their personal and professional lives.
Without further ado, (in no particular order) here is our pick for 2025.
Expert Business Speakers
Tamara Lohan
Founder & CEO, Mr & Mrs Smith
Tamara Lohan is an example of how setbacks and initial failures in the business world are simply just lessons learnt on the way to success. After being rejected by publishers regarding her idea for a new hotel guide, Tamara and her husband took it upon themselves to create their vision themselves.
Fast-forward: Tamara has sold over 100,000 copies of her guide and set up the company Mr & Mrs Smith. The company was later sold to hotel giants Hyatt for £55m, with Tamara staying on as CEO.
An expert in online business and marketing, Tamara’s business speaking centres around strategy. She shares her invaluable knowledge and experience of the ups and downs of business, the challenges and failures she has faced, the importance of putting the customer first, and the successes of her entrepreneurial journey.
Tim Campbell MBE
Social Enterprise Entrepreneur, The Apprentice winner
Tim Campbell is recognised for his outstanding work supporting the unemployed and disadvantaged, helping them to educate themselves and enter the business world through apprenticeships.
It’s perhaps no surprise that these endeavours earned him a place on BBC’s hit series, The Apprentice, where Tim appears as Lord Alan Sugar’s right-hand man alongside fellow business speaker, Barroness Karren Brady. In fact, Tim was a product of the show himself, winning the series in 2005.
Following the show, he remained with Lord Sugar, helping to run Amstrad’s first foray into the lucrative health and beauty market. He then worked alongside the Mayor of London to promote the positive impact of apprenticeships. From here, Tim founded the Bright Ideas Trust, where his entrepreneurial spirit and championing of diverse talent earned him an MBE. Tim’s business talks centre around the next generation of entrepreneurs, and finding and nurturing global talent.
Holly Tucker
Co-founder, notonthehighstreet.com
Holly Tucker is a creative entrepreneur who has founded multiple successful businesses, including notonthehighstreet.com and Holly & Co. She is also the government’s UK ambassador to Creative Small Businesses, a new company that helps startups succeed.
With her creative mindset and knack for spotting new products and opportunities that will succeed, Holly is a breath of fresh air to the classic entrepreneurial mould. She has injected over one billion pounds into the UK economy, helping countless small businesses along the way. Alongside her busy working achievements, Holly also presents an iTunes top-ten podcast in Conversations of Inspiration alongside an annual Congregation of Inspiration event and has a best-selling book, titled Do What You Love, Love What You Do.
Jo Malone
Fragrance Designer
Thanks to her market-leading range of cosmetics and fragrances, Jo Malone is a household name to many. From humble beginnings in her kitchen, she grew into a global luxury brand before selling her stake in the business to Estée Lauder. It’s precisely this drive, determination, and business know-how that make Jo a fantastic business speaker.Jo’s presentations and talks explore business nuances, using her extensive experience to cover everything from failures to successes. She offers her take on what it takes to grow a successful business and explains the importance of encouraging your team to take risks and push themselves to reach new heights.
In addition to her passionate conference speaking, she now focuses on the Jo Loves brand and regularly appears in the media.
Dame Inga Beale
Former CEO, Lloyd’s of London
Inga Beale has worked in some of the most prestigious senior global leadership roles for the world’s largest companies, including City Financial, Converium, Zurich Insurance, and Lloyd’s.
A culture of innovation, inclusion and modernisation has followed Inga wherever she has worked, as she regularly challenges old ways of thinking, particularly within the financial sector, where she expanded the reach of Lloyd’s to the Asian and Middle Eastern market as their first female CEO.
This impressive experience makes Dame Beale one of the most captivating and knowledgeable diversity and inclusion speakers available. She fuses her passion for this field with business speaking to create an evening that inspires and motivates any workforce to break glass ceilings, push boundaries, and advocate for a culture of change and progression.
Bruce Daisley
Author and Future Of Work Thought Leader
Bruce Daisley is among the most prominent tech leaders, particularly in social media, having led Twitter’s business efforts across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East as Vice President, working alongside some of the world’s largest and most celebrated companies along the way.
These days, Bruce studies what makes a company successful and what motivates people to succeed in their jobs. The author of The Joy of Work: 30 Ways to Fix Your Work Culture and Fall in Love with Your Job Again and the host of the Sleep Work Repeat podcast, he is recognised in the business world as one of the most influential and respected thought leaders on workplace culture and workplace challenges.
Baronness Karren Brady
Vice Chair, West Ham & Small Business Ambassador
Karren Brady will be no stranger to fans of the BBC’s hugely successful The Apprentice, where she has starred alongside Lord Alan Sugar for 15 years.
Of course, this role only came about thanks to her incredible business acumen. As Managing Director of Birmingham City FC, she ran the club’s business side before taking over as Vice Chairman of West Ham United. Under her leadership, West Ham made a profit for the first time in its recent history and was recognised as the 14th most valuable football club in the world, valued at £ 1 billion following a 300% income growth.
Karren is known for her resilience and focus in the face of adversities, making her role as a business speaker invaluable to companies looking to grow and inspire their workforce.
Kevin Gaskell
Entrepreneur & Business Leader
Kevin Gaskell is a man of insurmountable drive and numerous achievements. He headed UK operations as CEO for BMW, Lamborghini, and Porsche before launching his own software business, leading a Fintech operation, and founding the UK’s fastest-growing alternative fibre network provider.
If you thought that wasn’t enough to keep him busy, Kevin has also walked both poles, climbed the world’s highest peaks, and set a world record as part of the fastest five-man team to row the 3,000-mile journey across the Atlantic Ocean — all while authoring two best-selling books.
It’s fair to say that he knows a thing or two about achieving your goals and generating success, which is precisely what makes Kevin one of the most inspiring and entertaining business speakers in 2025.
Jeremy Schwartz
Former CEO of The Body Shop and Pandora
Jeremy Schwartz has served as CEO of numerous global brands and e-commerce-focused retailers. He has experienced transformative success with Coca-Cola, L’Oréal, Pandora, Sainsbury’s, and The Body Shop, turning around their fortunes and shaping them into UK market leaders.
Jeremy champions marketing and digital innovation, including AI, workplace culture, sustainability, and future trends. Outside of his professional endeavours, he uses his natural drive, determination, and resilience to equal effect. He is an accomplished mountaineer and the founding trustee of the Against Malaria Foundation, which has raised over $500 million in the fight against malaria.
Margaret Heffernan
Business Author & Former CEO
Margaret boasts a wealth of experience running successful businesses across the United States, and has now turned this know-how to her advantage, informing her leading business speeches with an analytical approach.
Cambridge-educated Margaret is an expert in leadership, diversity, change, and crisis management. She uses her enigmatic style and industry-leading speaking skills to connect with the audience, sharing the importance of addressing problems within businesses, developing talent, encouraging internal competition, and fostering a strong company culture.
As well as being an acclaimed speaker with numerous TED Talks under her name, Margaret is a successful entrepreneur, acting chief executive, a Professor of Practice at the University of Bath, and best-selling business author through her book, Willful Blindness.
If you have any questions about any of our business speakers, please feel free to contact us. One of our expert account managers will be happy to help. For more topics, tips, and information, browse the JLA Ideas page.