SIR Ranulph Fiennes, the polar explorer, mountaineer, author and former member of the SAS, will be among the principal speakers at next week’s Jersey International Business School Leadership Forum.

Organised in association with the Jersey Evening Post for the second year, the forum is being staged at the Hotel de France next Tuesday.

In addition to Sir Ranulph, whose talk will focus on the problems of leading through adversity, the all-day event will feature an impressive line-up of speakers from the worlds of business, journalism and politics.

They will include Andrea Robottom, director of NoNonsense Consulting Ltd, information technology entrepreneur Dr Malek Ladki, John Bird, the founder and editor-in-chief of The Big Issue, Senator Philip Ozouf and Stephen Platt, principal of Stephen Platt & Associates LLP.

The forum will be chaired by Miles Templeman, the businessman and former director-general of the Institute of Directors.

Among the topics to be discussed will be leading through change, the necessity of innovation, the challenge of preserving Jersey’s prosperity, and ‘black swan’ events – unpredictable occurrences – in the business world.

Each of the speakers will examine leadership issues from a personal perspective, but the broad intention will be to apply what they have learned to the challenges currently faced by Jersey in both the public and private sectors.
Issues are likely to include how to respond to the global economic crisis, the continuing debate about the legitimate role of offshore finance centres, global pressure for transparency and openness, the emergence of Asian finance centres and the erosion of the Channel Islands’ unique selling points as a financial jusrisdiction.

Although the speakers will address the audience through a formal presentation, they will also be interviewed by Mr Templeman. This format was used effectively during last year’s Jersey International Business School forum, drawing praise from those who attended.
David Hazzard, the managing director of Kedge Capital in Jersey, said of that forum: ‘It was the most productive, informative and inspiring professional development event I have ever attended – absolutely first-class.

The speakers
Miles Templeman, event chairman
Mr Templeman began his career as a marketing specialist, leading major consumer brands including Daz, Ribena, Lucozade and Levi Jeans.
He then undertook a series of non-executive directorships and consultancy roles at organisations including the Royal Mail and Ben Sherman, before becoming chief executive of Bulmers and non-executive chairman of YO! Sushi.
Until recently director-general of the Institute of Directors, he is currently non-executive chairman of Shepherd Neame, the Kentish family brewer, a board member of Young Enterprise, Enterprise Insight, and the European Confederation of Directors’ Associations.
He is also senior non-executive director of Melrose PLC, the buy-out specialist.

Andrea Robottom
Andrea Robottom is the director of NoNonsense Consulting Ltd, a boutique consultancy specialising in organisational development with a diverse multi-national client base .
Before setting up NoNonsense in 2009, she had a successful international career. Her final corporate role was as global head of organisation development for Cadbury plc and a member of the global HR leadership team.
Before joining Cadbury in 2005, she was vice-president, HR, for PepsiCo’s European Beverages division and was responsible for staff across 14 countries and eight production units.

Malek Ladki
Dr Ladki is a telecommunications and IT entrepreneur and has fulfilled top management roles for 22 years.
With three successful technology ventures under his belt as well as a number of successful corporate turnarounds, he has an exceptional record in starting up, growing and restructuring businesses.
One of his notable successes was Aethos, which he co-founded in 1994 and disposed of to Logica for $92 million in 1998. He recently started Tonalis, an independent consultancy based in Jersey, with a specific focus on business turnarounds, divestments and strategy development.

Sir Ranulph Fiennes
Brought up in South Africa and renowned for his adventurous exploits and for raising funds for charity, Sir Ranulph became the youngest captain in the British Army after joining the SAS in the mid-1960s. He saw action against Marxist terrorists in Oman in the late 60s and was awarded the Sultan’s Bravery Medal.
As an explorer and adventurer, he was the first to circumnavigate the world along its polar axis. That three-year 52,000-mile odyssey required intricate planning, 1,900 sponsors and a 52-person team.
In 1992 and 1993 he completed the first unsupported crossing of the Antarctic continent with Mike Stroud – the longest unsupported polar journey in history. His most recent achievement was to climb Everest in May 2009, at the age of 67.

John Bird
Mr Bird was born into poverty, was brought up in care and spent spells as a prison inmate, an artist and a printer.
Now an established iconoclast, activist and publisher, he is the force behind The Big Issue, the world’s most successful street magazine, and an inspirational business leader with an outstanding record of using enterprise as a tool for social change.
He has spoken at the United Nations in New York, at Downing Street and at Buckingham Palace, and is the recipient of many accolades and awards, including the United Nations’ Scroll of Honour, the MBE and the 2005-6 Beacon Prize for Creative Giving.
Mr Bird offers a fresh and authoritative perspective on the interaction between business and society, and having spent nearly 20 years balancing the objectives of profit and social impact, he is uniquely placed to offer a crucial insight.

Treasury Minister Philip Ozouf
Senator Ozouf attended the European Business School in London, Frankfurt and Paris. Having been awarded his degree, he went on to work for Cargill Inc on a range of assignments in Europe, the United States and Africa.
He was first elected as a States Deputy in 1999, going on to hold positions as vice-president of the then Finance and Economics Committee and president of the Environment and Public Services Committee.
As Treasury Minister, he has been responsible for the oversight of public finances and States assets and can take credit for restructuring the Treasury and improved financial management across the States.
He has had political oversight of international finance and has regularly represented the Island in London and recently led delegations to India, China and the Gulf states.

Stephen Platt
Mr Platt is the principal of Stephen Platt & Associates LLP, a director of the Jersey International Business School and an adjunct professor at Georgetown University in Washington DC.
He is widely acknowledged as a leading adviser in the fields of financial crime prevention and operational risk management.
Mr Platt is the principal author of the International Compliance Association qualifications in compliance and money-laundering prevention, is frequently consulted on politically sensitive matters and has been commended by the Legal 500 for complex international advisory work ‘offering solutions others failed to see’.