Lucy Giles

Colonel Lucy Giles was commissioned in 1992 after studying at Exeter University. Early regimental duty in the newly formed Royal Logistic Corps included postings within Germany, UK and South Africa with deployments to Bosnia (1994, 1997, 1999), East Timor and Sierra Leone. After gaining her Masters and completing the Advanced Command and Staff Course from 2001-03, she was posted to HQ Northern Ireland. She commanded 47 Air Despatch Squadron enabling operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and other parts of the world. She also led a training sub-unit prior to her appointment as an instructor at the Joint Services Command and Staff College in 2011. Here she focussed on command, leadership and management, represented the College in military ethics and leadership development gaining her PGCE in 2013. Appointed Commander of New College RMAS in January 2015, she received an entry into the Debretts’ People of the Day in 2016. She won the ‘Inspirational’ and ‘Woman of the Year’ awards at the inaugural Women in Defence event in October 2016 and received an honorary doctorate from Exeter University for services to the military in July 2017. Promoted in 2018, she is the 36th President of the Army Officer Selection Board in Westbury. Still keen to ‘give something back’, she continues as ambassador for First Women UK, is part of the Girls School Association teachers’ mentoring programme, a Girl Guiding ambassador, is delighted to be a Director for the Foundation for Leadership through Sport and a member of the FA’s Technical Advisory Board. Lucy is married to Nick. They have two children; Jess and Alex. She enjoys singing, a bit of drama, chairs the UK Armed Forces orienteering organisation and aims to complete the Marathon des Sables in 2020.

RICHARD HYTNER

Until setting up creative management consultancy beta baboon, Richard, a Cambridge law graduate, was Saatchi & Saatchi’s deputy chairman, heading up its global strategy and innovation practice, helping clients earn loyalty beyond reason among their customers and people.

Board level engagements, involving facilitation of courageous and creative conversations with key customers, regulators, leaders and employees, have been for executive teams led by Sir Andrew Likierman, Dean of London Business School; Ana Botin, now Chairwoman, Grupo Santander; Richard Sexton, Global Head of PwC Assurance; Carlo Barel di Sant'Albano, then CEO of Cushman & Wakefield; and Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, former Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police.

Recent speaking engagements have been for senior leaders at The Metropolitan Police; Whitbread; Olswang; Amazon; Discovery Communications; Novo Nordisk; for barristers at Middle Temple Hall, London; and for hospital administrators, cardiologists and anesthesiologists in New York.

At London Business School, Richard teaches as Adjunct Professor of Marketing on both degree and executive education programmes, including for EY, Vodafone and Lloyds of London, as well as on three open programmes: Strategic Branding; and Market Driving Strategies; and Next Generation Professional Services Firms. He runs an elective open to all degree students on Creativity in Business.

Beyond his work as a beta baboon, Richard co-founded the Manchester United Supporters Trust; was, for 8 years, a trustee (5 of them as Chairman) of Planting Promise, a sustainable educational enterprise in Sierra Leone; and a trustee of the British Heart Foundation since 2008. In 2015 he joined the Met Police Commissioner’s Management Board as a non executive adviser.

For reviews of his first book, Consiglieri: Leading from the Shadows (Profile Books) and media coverage, see: www.consiglieribook.com. 

Richard is a Meyler Campbell trained Business Coach.

Bob Reeves

Bob has spent his career in sport, much of it as Director of Sport, Exercise and Health at the University of Bristol. His particular interest has been in coaching, and he was the only person to be awarded staff coach status in both the National Cricket Association and the RFU. He coached these sports to a high level, including England students and Bristol Rugby, English Universities and Oxford University cricket.

At Bristol University, Bob established one of the first high-performance programmes for students in the UK. Three former members of this programme gained medals in the 2012 Olympic Games and many others have excelled on the international sporting scene.

Bob was a leader in the development of the National Coaching Foundation (now Sports Coach UK) and was for eight years the Minister of Sport representative on the South West Sports Council.

He has been a member of the Council of the Rugby Football Union since 1995. During this time, Bob was instrumental in developing the first strategy for the development of elite performance in English rugby, and he served on player and coach development committees. He was President of the RFU in 2013-14.