financial services and private equity advisor and investor
Anne Fergusson is a private equity advisor and investor. She offers pro bono advice to young people seeking to galvanise their working lives and matches experienced business people building ethical projects to sources of ethical funding, for which she receives a fee if the deal happens.
Her background is a mix of academia, executive search and business development and she is a Scottish chartered accountant. Although she has never practiced, she has used these skills to support her work throughout her career.
She lived and worked in London for 15 years before returning to her home town of Edinburgh four years ago.
journalist, writer and broadcaster; presenter, Radio 4’s FutureProofing and How to Disagree; forthcoming book, Technology is not the problem
Timandra Harkness is a writer, broadcaster and presenter. Her first book Big Data: does size matter? was published by Bloomsbury and her second book Technology is not the problem will be published by Harper Reach in May 2024. Watch her TedX talk, What Is Knowledge In The Age Of Big Data? here. Timandra writes and presents BBC Radio 4’s FutureProofing, How To Disagree and Steelmanning series. Documentaries including Data, Data Everywhere, Personality Politics, and Five Knots for BBC Radio 4, and Are You A Numbers Person? for the BBC World Service. She was resident reporter on social psychology series The Human Zoo.
Since winning the Independent newspaper’s column-writing competition, Timandra has written for publications including the Telegraph, Guardian, Sunday Times, Unherd, Men’s Health and Significance (the journal of the Royal Statistical Society). She formed the first comedy science double-act in the UK with neuroscientist Dr Helen Pilcher. Since then she’s written and performed scientific and mathematical comedy from Adelaide (Australia) to Pittsburgh PA. In August 2019, Timandra took a new solo show, Take A Risk, to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Timandra is a graduate member of the Royal Statistical Society, and a founder member of their Data Ethics and Governance Section.
sociological researcher
Sociological researcher with interests including the impact of sport on society, Chris is also interested in the role popular music plays in societal development. Originally a builder, Chris entered the social work profession in the late eighties. He worked for the probation service then as an approved mental health social worker in Central Manchester before turning to lecturing on social work programmes. When not watching his beloved Manchester City, Chris can be spotted DJing or riding around Manchester on his vintage Lambretta scooter.
MD, Pinch Point Communications
Sarah is MD of Pinch Point Communications, an Independent Advisor to the Welsh Assembly Commission, a Trustee of Bristol University Students’ Union and Chair of the Taylor Bennett Foundation.
Starting as a BBC journalist, she has worked in corporate communications since 2000 and in 2013 founded Pinch Point Communications.
Sarah has been listed in the FT/Yahoo! Money and HERoes 100 Business List, for the last three years, which celebrates female leaders, who are working to support and encourage the female talent pipeline.
She was President of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations in 2015. Sarah lives in Bristol and is evangelical about the joys of running.
health policy analyst, writer, broadcaster and commentator
Roy is an independent health policy analyst, writer, broadcaster and commentator on health and social issues. He has contributed to a wide variety of radio and TV programmes and news. He has written widely, including Guardian, Telegraph, Sunday Times.
Roy has a wide variety of experience in healthcare and in the NHS, and has twice been voted top UK speaker on NHS topics. He is the author of over twenty books on health and health service management. He is a Freeman of the City of London, a Fellow of the Institute of Directors and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
He is a guitarist and magician and often uses these talents in his presentations. In 2005 he started ballroom dancing and has a bronze medal in ballroom and Latin American dancing.
Corporate Affairs Manager, PwC UK
David manages media relations & external communications for a number of areas relating to PwC’s purpose and reputation in the UK, having previously worked in global communications both for PwC and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA). Prior to this he was associate director of the Academy of Ideas and a convenor of the Battle of Ideas festival in the UK & Europe.
He has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Exeter and takes a keen interest in the arts, culture and politics. He also took part in the first ever Debating Matters national competition as a student, and definitely prefers asking the tough questions in comparison to answering them!
Tom is a Researcher in the Children and Families (and education) team at the National Centre for Social Research. He previously worked for opinion polling company Survation over the 2017 election, and has taught debating and history in China, Hong Kong and Cambodia. He is very interested in politics and education policy.
Insurance supervisor, Bank of England
Dr Nicholas Silk is an insurance supervisor at the Bank of England. He previously worked as a research scientist but after nine years of student life he got sick of toiling in a lab and made an unexpected career move into financial regulation. He loves going to the opera, playing Bach on the electric piano and going for runs around London parks.
Solicitor, Womble Bond Dickinson; DM alumnus
Jake is a solicitor at Womble Bond Dickinson specialising in banking and finance, with experience of managing and assisting on a variety of transactions including debt, asset, and real estate finance deals.
Jake is a Debating Matters alumnus, having competed in 2009 where he won the ‘highly commended’ prize at the national final.
Outside work, Jake is a (reasonably) competitive cyclist and currently holds two Road Records Association records. The most recent of which is the record for the fastest time from Edinburgh to York.
Office of the Group Chairman, HSBC
Greg became involved with debating and public speaking at school and was on the team that won the ESU National Public Speaking Competition in 2000. Since then he has used the skills he learned to talk his way into Cambridge, a scholarship to live in Japan, and jobs with the UN, solicitors Herbert Smith, and since 2009 on the International Management Programme at HSBC, where he is currently working for the group chairman.
