Levi Roots and Sir Dave Lewis among speakers announced for Nottingham Business School’s 2025-26 Business Leaders Lecture Series
Nottingham Business School (NBS) has unveiled the speaker line-up for its 2025–26 series of free public lectures, which will feature influential figures from across the business world sharing their insights, experiences and strategies for success.
By Helen Breese | Published on 25 September 2025
Categories: Press office; Business; Nottingham Business School;
The Business Leaders Lecture Series at NBS, part of Nottingham Trent University, is designed to inspire, inform and engage the wider community with the latest thinking in business and leadership.
The new programme features well-known faces in the business world – and beyond – including Levi Roots, chef and entrepreneur; Anna Lungley, Head of Sustainability Consulting, Fujitsu; and Matthew Swann, Director of the BBC Concert Orchestra.
The first in the series will be Sir Dave Lewis, Chair at global consumer health company, Haleon, on Wednesday 8 October. His lecture A small action is worth a million words will reflect on the debate over purpose in business, sustainability, and greenwashing, drawing on his experience at Unilever, Tesco, and beyond, to highlight the need for small, meaningful actions over empty talk.
Upcoming speakers also include:
- Ellie Long, Global Head of Emerging Talent at Rolls-Royce
- Sarah Gregory, NTU Board of Directors and HR Director, BBC
- Jon French, Managing Director, Android GMT, Google
- Matthew Blain, HR Director, Exemplar,
- Anthony Hemmerdinger, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Boots UK and ROI
- Peter Cheese, CEO, Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development
- Bal Bansal, Director of Global Technology Strategy, IHG
- Sarah Ellis, Founder, Amazing If
NBS is triple crown accredited by EQUIS, AACSB, and AMBA - globally recognised hallmarks of excellence and quality for business education. It actively engages industry professionals and stakeholders in the design and delivery of its courses, as well as developing research that influences business, management, and public policy.
Its Business Leaders Lecture Series was first launched in 2007 and has seen business leaders from a variety of sectors visit the University.
Previous speakers were recently honoured with a special book and exhibition featuring pen and ink portraits by illustrator, Laura Quick, alongside inspirational quotes from the lectures.
The series is complemented by the NBS Business Leaders Podcast which features more than 60 episodes from figures such as two Michelin Star chef, Sat Bains, and Chair of the English Football Association and Vice President of FIFA, Debbie Hewitt.
Executive Dean of Nottingham Business School, Professor Baback Yazdani, said: “"We are looking forward to welcoming such a distinguished line-up of speakers to the NBS Business Leader's community.
“These lectures are a vital part of our deep connections with business, offering students, professionals and members of the public the chance to hear directly from those at the forefront of innovation."
For further information and booking, please visit the NBS Business Leaders Lecture Series website.
Recent Business Leaders Lectures can be watched online.
Notes for Editors
Press enquiries please contact Helen Breese, Public Relations and Research Communications Manager, on telephone +44 (0)115 848 8751, or via email.
Photos (L to R, top to bottom) Levi Roots, photo credit Tony Attille; Matthew Swann, Anna Lungley, and Sir Dave Lewis.
About Nottingham Business School at Nottingham Trent University
Nottingham Business School (NBS) at Nottingham Trent University (NTU) is a leader in experiential learning and personalisation of business, management and economics education and research, combining academic excellence with positive impact on people, business and society. NBS has an unrivalled level of engagement with business, public and voluntary organisations. With more than 8,500 students, NBS is also one of UK’s largest business schools.
NBS is triple crown accredited by EQUIS, AACSB, and AMBA, placing it amongst the top 1% of business schools globally. NBS is also accredited by Small Business Charter, providing support and development for SMEs, and is a PRME Champion - held up as an exemplar and beacon by the United Nations Principles of Responsible Management Education (PRME).
In The Guardian University Guide 2026, all NBS courses were ranked in the UK Top 20. Subject areas covering Accounting and Finance, Business and Management, Economics and Marketing and PR were all recognised for excellence in teaching, high student satisfaction and strong graduate career prospects.
About Nottingham Trent University
Nottingham Trent University (NTU) has been named UK ‘University of the Year’ five times in six years, (Times Higher Education Awards 2017, The Guardian University Awards 2019, The Times and Sunday Times 2018 and 2023, Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2023) and is consistently one of the top performing modern universities in the UK.
Students have voted us the best university in the UK and 1st in the UK for student employability (Uni Compare 2025).
NTU is 4th in the UK for number of undergraduate students (HESA 2023-24) with over 36,000 students and more than 4,000 staff located across six campuses. It has an international student population of 6,000 and an NTU community representing over 160 countries.
NTU owns two Queen’s Anniversary Prizes for outstanding achievements in research (2015, 2021). The first recognises NTU’s research on the safety and security of global citizens. The second was awarded for research in science, engineering, arts and humanities to investigate and restore cultural objects, buildings and heritage. The Research Excellence Framework (2021) classed 83% of NTU’s research activity as either world-leading or internationally excellent.
NTU was awarded GOLD in the national 2023 Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) assessment.
NTU is a top 10 for sport (British Universities and Colleges Sport league table 2025) and was named as Sports University of the Year (Daily Mail University Guide 2025). It has also been ranked as 25th in the UK by the Guardian University Guide 2026.
NTU is a holder of the University Mental Health Charter recognising the commitment an institution has shown towards continuous improvement in the area of mental health and wellbeing.
NTU is the most environmentally sustainable university in the UK and second in the world (UI Green Metric University World Rankings, 2024).