Dean Ward has created a global business on the back of the surge in demand for touch screen kiosks. Ward is the co-founder of Liverpool-based Evoke Creative, which can count McDonald’s, JD Sports and Google among its clients.

Beth Houghton started her working life travelling the world as a SAP consultant but gave it up for the world of deals.
Today’s she heads up Palatine Private Equity’s Impact Investing Fund and is one of the leading names in all things ESG.

Andrew Leaitherland is the founder and CEO of tech-enabled law firm arch.law but he’s best known as the CEO of DWF. Under his leadership, DWF Group grew from 450 people to over 4,300 across 33 offices world-wide and turnover from under £30m to more than £330m.

Graham Donoghue is the CEO of the holiday giant you probably haven’t heard of. Forge Holiday Group is on the cusp of achieving unicorn status but gets a fraction of the attention of its rivals Airbnb and Booking.com.

Paul Gouge is a giant of the gaming world. He’s the CEO of ForthStar but he’s best known for his previous business – mobile games studio Playdemic – which was bought by EA in 2021 for $1.4bn.

Barry Nightingale is the straight-talking Northerner with a reputation for getting deals done.
During a stellar career he’s worked with some of the best known names in business – including webuyanycar founders Noel and Darren McKee; BetFred’s billionaire founder Fred Done; and easyJet founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou.

Clare Roberts OBE is the founder and CEO of Kids Planet.She launched the business with her father in 2008 at two new locations in Warrington and Widnes after becoming disappointed at the quality of childcare available.

As the CEO of Travel Counsellors, Steve Byrne is one of the UK’s most popular and highly-regarded business leaders.