Emma J. Bell was formerly a top-level partner in Scotland’s largest law firm, and an employment judge. Whilst in those roles, Emma combined her passions for personal development and resilience by becoming a resilience coach – and has continued to support business leaders to fulfil personal potential for over eighteen years. Research now shows that resilience is a skill that can be developed in all of us. In light of that research Emma set out to discover what the key resilience strategies are that enable us to thrive, rather than simply survive in the face of challenge or trauma. She shares those strategies and the stories of those involved in her 3-year long research project in her bestselling audiobook, ‘9 Secrets to Thriving’.
Emma J. Bell
emcee
The emcee will host the event throughout the day, welcoming attendees, opening and closing each session, introducing speakers and panellists, and guiding the audience through the agenda.
Bruce Whitfield sees opportunity where others see chaos. He has spent his career proving that uncertainty isn’t the enemy but a strategic advantage. An award-winning business speaker and best-selling author, he helps executives and teams to make smarter decisions, act with confidence, and gain the edge in a world defined by volatility and noise.
As the Creator of the Chaos Advantage framework, Bruce challenges conventional thinking and guides audiences to master decision-making, foster engagement, challenge conformity, and lead with conviction when certainty is impossible.
Winner of the 2025 UK Speaker Awards for Thought Leadership, and with nearly three decades in journalism, Bruce has learned to decode the deeper forces shaping markets and leadership behaviour. As a respected analyst of the world’s most resilient companies, he helps leaders navigate the negativity bias of the news cycle, embrace solutionist thinking, and build cultures of realistic optimism that turn uncertainty into opportunity. Over the years, his insights have empowered audiences to think more clearly, decide more confidently, and act with greater purpose.
Bruce hosts Bruce Whitfield’s Business Week, a weekly global digest unpacking the stories and trends that outlast the headlines, and The Art of Deciding podcast, which reveals how influential figures, from CEOs and entrepreneurs to philosophers and poker players, make decisions that shape the world.
Bruce Whitfield
Keynote Speaker
The Chaos Advantage
Leaders today have access to more information, more data, and more analysis than at any point in history and have never been less certain about what to do with it. So, they tend to overestimate risk, underestimate opportunity, and leave the field clear for those bold enough to act while they wait for certainty that will never come. Leading in an age of disruption The Chaos Advantage Bruce gives leaders the tools to see clearly, act with conviction, and turn uncertainty into competitive advantage.
As a foresight and innovation specialist, Eleanor's career has spanned legal policy, money laundering investigations, innovation and future thinking. She designed, built and led KPMG's Future Institute in the UK, the firm's first foresight capability, and has worked with the senior leadership teams of organisations spanning multiple sectors and industries from healthcare through to mining, logistics and financial services.
Today she is the owner of Foresightfully, a boutique consultancy, which specialises in supporting C suite leaders to think and act differently in the face of rapid and unpredictable change; that might include refreshing strategy, motivating the leadership team, bringing the 'outside-in' perspective or providing one to one challenge. Eleanor specialises in creative thinking on strategy, leadership and culture and brings experience, insight and provocation around global trends, future ready leadership, scenario planning, strategy, innovation and disruption. Eleanor helps her clients to develop clear short and long term action plans when responding to the impacts of external change on their sector and industry dynamics. She provokes her clients to be curious about what's changing and to be bold in taking advantage of the opportunities that change presents. She is trusted by clients including British Airways and the NHS and many others, to provoke different thinking and inspire action.
Whilst Eleanor's work today is focussed on foresight, she spent the early part of her career specialising in hindsight as an investigator of misconduct, fraud and money laundering at the Scottish Legal Services Ombudsman, the Financial Ombudsman service and in KPMG's Forensic group. Through this she has developed an ability to quickly assess and understand a client's business and bring analytical thinking to her projects. In 2009, she was invited to join KPMG's first ever innovation group, where she was part of a select team of 'Innovation Mentors' driving the growth of an innovation culture within the firm. Her work required close collaboration with specialist teams to integrate innovative thinking and creative approaches into existing projects and new pursuits. As a result, she has a proven ability to quickly get under the skin of a challenge, no matter how complex it seems on the surface. Eleanor went on to design and lead KPMG's first ever foresight capability, which worked directly with the Executive teams of key clients to identify and act on disruptive trends and to create live opportunities for both clients and the firm.
In 2017 she set up Foresightfully to continue this work through speaking, facilitation and coaching. Foresightfully has a passion for, and focus on, sustainable business and the urgent role of business leaders in designing an equal and inclusive future. Eleanor is also the co-author of The Disruption Game Plan: New rules for connected thinking on innovation and risk, which was released to rave reviews.
Eleanor Winton
Keynote Speaker
The Foresightful Leader: Vision and Action in an Unpredictable World
As organisations face an ever more complex and unpredictable operating environment, it has never been more important for leaders to be foresightful, combining long-term vision with decisive action today.
In this session, Eleanor brings a fresh and expertly curated perspective on the global trends shaping the future, and the steps that foresightful businesses are taking to drive sustainable growth. You'll gain a clearer view of what lies ahead and how to position your organisation to thrive within it.
Her high-energy style and engaging content will motivate you to take the first steps towards creating your vision for the future and building the mindset and behaviours that will help you get there.
