LEAD 2026

Biography

Samira Ahmed is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster and writer who
specialises in the intersection of popular culture, history, politics, and social
change. She is the presenter of Front Row on Radio 4 and Newswatch on BBC1, and was previously an anchor and correspondent on BBC News and Channel 4 News, where she won the Stonewall Broadcast of the Year award.

She was also named British Broadcasting Press Guild Audio Presenter of the Year. During her time as the BBC’s Los Angeles Correspondent, Samira covered the OJ Simpson civil trial. Her three-part BBC 4 documentary series Art of Persia was the first major Western documentary series to be filmed in Iran for forty years. Her other documentaries include I Dressed Ziggy Stardust, HG Wells and the H Bomb, and Disgusted, Mary Whitehouse, for which she spent months studying the diaries of the morality activist.

Away from more serious issues Samira has shown her quick wit on The News Quiz and Have I Got News for You, her extensive knowledge on Celebrity Mastermind (which she won) and as host of the podcast: How I Found My Voice.

Biography

Matt Forde is a critically acclaimed stand-up, impressionist, writer and podcaster. Matt has toured critically acclaimed shows nationwide including, Clowns To The Left of Me, Jokers To The Right in 2022,  Inside No. 10 in 2023 and most recently, Matt Forde: The End of an Era Tour in 2024.

Matt’s hit live podcast The Political Party transferred to the West End’s Duchess Theatre in 2021 after over 70 sold out shows at Westminster’s The Other Palace, for a twice extended fortnightly residency continuing in to 2024. Matt has hosted some of politics’ most powerful figures on the podcast, including Sir Keir Starmer, Nicola Sturgeon, Tony Blair, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Angela Rayner, Nigel Farage and Gordon Brown to name just a few.

He has received numerous nominations from award bodies including the British Podcast Awards and Chortle Awards and the show is regularly highlighted as a top podcast pick in the press.

In 2019 alone, Matt hosted the Alternative News Desk for Channel 4’s election night coverage, chaired the One Nation Conservative leadership hustings and debated Britain’s withdrawal from the EU with Tony Blair for the Institute of Global Change.

Matt hosted four series of Unspun with Matt Forde on Dave, receiving several nominations at the Broadcast Digital Awards, and has numerous other broadcast credits including: Have I Got News For You (BBC One), The Royal Variety Performance (ITV), Mock The Week (BBC Two), 8 out of 10 Cats (Channel 4), Question Time (BBC One), This Week (BBC One), Newsnight (BBC Two) and Daily Politics (BBC Two).

Matt was one of the main writers and voice artists behind the revival of hit sketch series Spitting Image (BritBox/ITV), providing the voices of Boris Johnson, Sir Keir Starmer and Donald Trump among others. The show ran for two series before being adapted for a live stage show (Spitting Image Live: Idiots Assemble) co-created by Matt and Al Murray, originally at the Birmingham Rep before transferring for an extended run in London’s West End.

A diehard Nottingham Forest fan, Matt channels his passion as the host of Absolute Radio’s Saturday afternoon Rock ‘n’ Roll Football alongside co-host Matt Dyson. Matt’s first book Politically Homeless was listed by The Sunday Times as one the Best Political Books of 2020.

Biography

Kelly joined ITV in 2011 as Group Commercial Director. He was promoted to Managing Director, Commercial and appointed to the Management Board in 2014.

He is the Chair of the Board of Thinkbox, the marketing body for commercial TV in the UK and a member of the BARB Strategy Board, he also sits on the RTL AdAlliance Association Board.

He has responsibility for all commercial advertising deals across the ITV family of channels.

Prior to joining ITV, Kelly was the Sales Director at Channel 5 and prior to that held various positions at UKTV, Sky and Thames Television.

Biography

Pete Markey is Chief Marketing Officer for Boots where he is responsible for brand and marketing for the UK and ROI. Pete is also the Exec Sponsor for Marketing for Change and the Boots Pride BRG network as well as co-Exec sponsor for the Boots/Macmillan partnership.

Pete has previously held senior leadership roles at TSB, Aviva, the Post Office, RSA and MORE TH>N with his early career at One.Tel, the AA and British Gas. He has experience of working across a range of disciplines including marketing, sales, digital, data & analytics, customer experience, operations and strategy.

Pete has been awarded four prestigious Marketer of the Year awards and is a Fellow of the Marketing Society and the Chartered Institute of Marketing. Pete is very active in the marketing industry and is Vice President at ISBA. He has regularly featured in the “Hall of Fame” in the Campaign Power 100 and the Marketing Week Top 100 most effective marketing leaders.

Pete has been recognised for his extensive work on diversity and inclusion winning both the Diversity Ally award at the European Diversity Awards in 2019 and the Corporate Ally award at the Rainbow Honours Awards in 2022. Pete is also a mentor for The Marketing Academy and Solent University.

Biography

Twice crowned as the advertising industry’s “Number One Media Agency Leader” by Campaign Magazine, Josh Krichefski is CEO of GroupM EMEA and the U.K. where he leads more than 16,000 people passionate about making advertising work better for people. A member of GroupM’s Global Leadership Team and a key player in maintaining the company’s role as the leading media investment organization throughout EMEA, Krichefski partners closely with agency and GroupM leadership throughout the region, harnessing GroupM’s scale to deliver more powerful and innovative media solutions for clients across markets and cultures.

With $22 billion in media investment billings across 41 markets, GroupM owns a 32% market share in one of the world’s largest regions. Josh was previously Global COO of the newly formed EssenceMediacom, where he led the merger focusing on culture, people, product, client growth and revolutionizing the operating model. He oversaw the agency’s global client practice with hubs in New York, San Francisco, London, Paris, Dusseldorf, Singapore as well as the agency’s marketing function.

Before EssenceMediacom, Josh was MediaCom’s Global COO and EMEA CEO where he oversaw 4,400 people across 37 offices, driving the vision, culture and growth of the agency for the region. He has extensive experience with independent organizations as well as in holding groups and has held senior management positions at global, regional and local levels.

He is well known for his focus and determination by his colleagues, competitors, and clients, and balances a drive for performance with a passion for instilling an inclusive and learning culture.

As Global COO and EMEA CEO at MediaCom, Josh introduced numerous programs to improve life at the agency, resulting in the lowest staff churn for years. These include the launch of the Mental Health Allies programs, numerous activities around Pride, the introduction of Empathy Ambassadors, Unconscious Bias Training, Diversity surveys and Conscious Leadership for the top 65 leaders in the business. He also oversaw the launch of a new partnership with Scope to make MediaCom more inclusive.

During his time at the agency, Krichefski accelerated MediaCom’s industry acclaim and prestige, dominating awards honors across the Campaign Media Awards, the Media Week Awards and the IPA Effectiveness Awards. MediaCom UK also won a Cannes Media Lions Grand Prix for Tesco’s “Food Love Stories.” This was a first in the agency’s history. He was a critical driver of MediaCom’s work that led to being crowned Campaign’s Agency of the Decade two decades in a row.

Before joining WPP, Josh worked on the creative agency side, working at St. Luke’s in the early 2000s and then founding his own digital agency before joining BLM in 2006.

Josh is trustee of Transformation Trust, advancing career development opportunities for children from underprivileged backgrounds and a founding member of the World Wellbeing Movement and the MS Society Appeal Board. In the area of mental health, he has created a Manifesto for a new era of mental health in business, working with U.K. government to help businesses manage mental health and wellbeing in the workplace. He’s a Fellow of the Marketing Society and has recently been selected as the next President of the IPA.

A long-suffering Arsenal supporter, Josh grew up in North London where he still lives today with his wife Deb, an architect, and two children Ruby and Leo.

Biography

Laura Fenton is Chief Executive of Omnicom Media Group UK. She oversees strategy, operations and the development and adoption of transformative capabilities to support Omnicom’s media agencies in the UK. Laura has been at Omnicom for 20 years, starting her career as a graduate within OMD UK and rising to CEO, before moving across to OMG in 2023.

Laura is a committee member of Omniwomen, Omnicom’s women in leadership collective, as well as a member of WACL (Women in Advertising and Communications London) whose focus is on driving gender equality and developing and inspiring female talent in the industry. Laura is also a member of the Meta UK & Northern Europe Advisory Board.

Biography

Simon Valcarcel is a Spurs, Oasis and Star Wars fan who works for Virgin Media O2 as Marketing Director, in that order. While he waits for Oasis to return this summer, Simon defines and leads the marketing strategy and execution for Virgin Media O2. Before Virgin Media O2, he worked at TalkTalk for five years. Building the brand into a household name through The X-Factor sponsorship and working with Disney on one of his all-time favourite Pixar films, WALL-E. Passionate about brilliant creative, media planning, innovation and finding out what makes customers tick, Simon is also part of ISBA’s Executive Committee and was named on Campaign’s power 100 list.

Biography

As Managing Director of UKI Partners & Specialists, Dyana is responsible for leading specialist teams across product, measurement and agency partners, defining product priorities and sales strategy to drive growth across our customers in the UK and Ireland.

During her 16 year tenure at Google, Dyana has held a number of positions across the business – most recently has led EMEA sales strategy for Youtube and the broader Video and Display network, supporting advertiser business growth through media platforms, commercial deals, content solutions, creative services and brand suitability.

Having graduated from University College London with a degree in Computer Science and Information Systems, Dyana started her career in consulting with Accenture UK, where she specialised in Business Intelligence and Digital Strategy across Media and Technology, working with both AOL and Sky Media for the majority of her tenure.

Biography

Catherine is the Chief Customer Officer for Nationwide Building Society. Her responsibilities include customer strategy, propositions, experience, brand strategy & communications, marketing and corporate affairs. Prior to joining Nationwide in 2023, Catherine spent 15 years at Lloyds Banking Group latterly as Chief Customer Officer responsible for the leadership and management of the Group’s portfolio of 13 brands alongside customer insights, analytics, strategy and communications. Before Lloyds Banking Group, Catherine held a number of brand, marketing and strategy positions at Royal & Sun Alliance, BT and Yell Group.  In 2024 Catherine was the Chair of Judges for the IPA Effectiveness Awards.

Biography

Phil joined ISBA in January, 2017 and heads up the organisation. He’s responsible for ISBA’s strategic direction and its advocacy agenda. He leads the team of ISBA directors and looks after the day to day operation of the business.

Before ISBA, Phil’s career in the UK and Europe has been in marketing, sales and general management, spanning a wide range of industry sectors, from consumer goods to grocery retail and from marketing technology to lottery and games.

Phil holds a BA in Classics from Jesus College, Oxford. He is a keen runner, skier, year-round open water swimmer and is married with five children.

Biography

Kris is the General Manager of Global Business Solutions for TikTok in the UK. Kris is responsible for the strategic direction and growth of TikTok’s commercial team in the UK, leading the company’s advertising business and the brand partnerships across the market. Kris and his team work tirelessly to give brands of all sizes the tools to be discovered and connect with target audiences through short-form video. Kris has previously held roles at Meta, WPP and Red Bull.

Biography

Alessandra has an international background in advertising and Marketing and is obsessed with developing people and growing brands, seeing these as the ultimate levers to a successful business.

She joined Tesco in March 2017, as Chief Customer Officer, where she brings together all of the disciplines of marketing, advertising, innovation, loyalty and insight to create strong and distinctive brand proposition – putting customers at the heart of Tesco.

Prior to Tesco, Alessandra worked for Unilever for over 20 years, holding different board-level positions in Marketing and General Management in Italy, Central & Eastern Europe and the USA.

Alessandra started her career in Advertising at JWT Milan, as an apprentice straight out of School. She worked in Advertising for 12 years in Italy and the UK.

She has two grown up children, lives in London travelling around town on a baby-blue Vespa.

Alessandra is the Chair of Teens Unite, a charity helping young adults facing cancer, live their best life.

Biography

Stephen became CEO of the Advertising Association in October 2016. The AA promotes the role and rights of responsible advertising and its value to people, society, business and the economy. The leading advertising trade bodies, commercial media owners and tech platforms are all members of the AA. The AA focuses on ad industry priorities, such as public trust in advertising, inclusion through the All In programme and sustainability, as the home of Ad Net Zero, which started in the UK and now extends internationally. The AA lobbies on behalf of the industry with Government and promotes the economic value of the industry through the ‘Advertising Pays’ reports. It is the home of Media Smart, the industry’s media literacy programme and the UK Advertising Export Group, promoting the UK’s world-leading exports performance.

Before the AA, Stephen held leadership roles in four agency groups (Leo Burnett, WCRS/Engine and DDB/adam&eveDDB and Next 15). He is a Governor of Ravensbourne University in London, the UK’s newest creative and technology university. He chairs The Debating Group, a cross-industry programme that hosts debates on industry issues in Parliament. He is a past President of NABS and serves on the board of the History of Advertising Trust. He was IPA President (2003-05) where he led both their first ethnic diversity initiative and launched its professional qualifications, which over 20,000 people have now passed in the UK and around the world.

Biography

Prior to his role as chief commercial officer at Channel 4, Rak Patel was Head of Sales EMEA at Spotify. Having been in the advertising industry for close to twenty five years, Rak has spent his career on the commercial side of media and platform businesses. Starting at EMAP, Rak has also spent time at The Financial Times, Microsoft and Auto Trader.

Rak is passionate about moving diversity and inclusion higher up on the agenda and has a personal ambition to bring equity in all its forms to the workplace, with a focus on championing underrepresented communities. Alongside supporting Spotify’s drive for equity and equality, Rak was a founding member of the Media For All network for those working in the media and advertising industry from minority groups.

Rak is a Campaign Board member for the Historic Royal Palaces, a charity supporting the upkeep of six Royal Palaces across the UK including the Tower of London and a Committee

Board member of 180 Soho House where he’s tasked with strengthening the breadth of representation across their membership. Rak is also an active member of the Advertising Association and has been a board member of the IAB UK.

Married and as the father of four children, when he’s not at work, he finds himself at the mercy of his kids demands…