01
Keynote
Regional business conference
On scaling a professional practice without losing the plot: hiring slowly, pricing honestly, and saying no to most of the opportunities that arrive.
Speaking
From the room,not the press release.
Keynotes, lectures, panels and after-dinner speeches on law, business, agriculture and policy — delivered by someone who has done the work, made the mistakes and kept the receipts.
Enquire about speaking
The speaker
Commercial lawyer. Founder. Recovering optimist.
Former adviser to government
Experience advising ministers, briefing panels and learning how decisions actually get made. It is why the talks on policy sound like they come from the room, not the press release.
Guest lecturer
A regular guest lecturer, taking the parts of law and business the syllabus struggles to fit: how a practice is actually run, how deals actually go wrong.
After-dinner speaker
A regular after-dinner speaker, regularly telling bad jokes and proud of every one. Warm, quick and self-deprecating.
Radio & podcast guest
A familiar voice on regional radio and business podcasts, talking law, land, business and the state of the country — usually live.
Key themes
01
Entrepreneurship & leadership
The realities of building a multi-division professional group from the ground up — the decisions, the setbacks, and the principles that drive long-term success.
02
Purpose-driven business
Why commercial success and social responsibility are not in conflict, and how organisations build genuine impact into their DNA without compromising performance.
03
Agricultural policy & rural business
The challenges facing the agricultural sector — from policy change and land reform to the future of rural enterprise and food security.
04
Law, technology & the profession
Where legal services are heading — from the automation of drafting to the value that survives it.
Recent engagements
Four rooms, four receipts.
02
Guest lecture
MBA enterprise day
On the gap between the business plan and the business — why the forecast is fiction, why the cash is not, and how to tell the difference before it costs you.
03
Panel chair
Startup showcase, founders & funders
Steering five opinions, one heated disagreement about valuation and a microphone that gave up halfway through — and still landing it on time.
04
Awards host
County business awards
Hosting an awards evening in front of four hundred people, their plus-ones and a very nervous toastmaster. Winners on time, jokes in moderation.
What a session involves
Talks are prepared for the specific audience rather than delivered from a standard deck. Before a date is confirmed I ask who will be in the room, what they are responsible for, and what you want them to leave with.
The test is whether the audience can use something from the session in the week that follows — not whether it sounded impressive at the time.
- Conference keynotes and plenary sessions
- After-dinner and networking talks
- Panel appearances and chairing
- Half-day workshops and training sessions
- Corporate away days and leadership events
- Community, school and charity events
Charitable and school events are accommodated differently — say so at the outset.
Enquiries
Book me for
your event.
Keynotes, panels, lectures and after-dinner engagements. Tell me the room, the date and the brief — I aim to respond within 48 hours.