Professor Shearer West

Vice-Chancellor, University of Nottingham

Professor Shearer West is the seventh Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Nottingham, taking up office on 2 October 2017. Professor West is a Professor of Art History and has held a number of significant leadership roles in universities and higher education. She obtained her BA degree in Art History and English at the College of William and Mary in Virginia, and her PhD in Art History at St. Andrews. 

Datuk Dr Mohd Yusoff Sulaiman

President and Chief Executive Officer, Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT)

Keynote Speaker #1

Datuk Dr Mohd Yusoff Sulaiman is currently the President and CEO of the Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT). He is also the Chairman of MYBiomass and MIGHT Technology Nurturing; a Board Member of Kulim Hi-Technology Park, Aerospace Malaysia Innovation Centre, Malaysia Debt Ventures Berhad and Melaka Green Technology Corporation; and Governing Board Member of the Isfahan Regional Center for Technology Incubators and Science Parks Development (Under the Auspices of UNESCO). He is a Fellow of the ASEAN Academy of Engineering and Technology; and the Academy Sciences Malaysia. 

Jeremy Richardson

Chief Executive, The Four Seasons Healthcare Group

Keynote Speaker #2

Jeremy is currently the Chief Executive of The Four Seasons Healthcare Group (FSHC), one of the four largest care home operators in the UK. He was appointed to the role in December 2019, having previously led brighterkind, an award winning stand alone care business, that was part of FSHC. For the past nine months, Jeremy has been at the forefront of the covid crisis, leading the Group through the pandemic, and acting as a voice for the wider social care industry with multiple media appearances. Jeremy’s professional background is a combination of professional services, private equity and management consulting and subsequently entrepreneurship in the hospitality sector. After stints at NatWest Ventures, now Bridgepoint Capital and Bain & Company, along with a colleague he set up Kew Green Hotels, taking the business from start up to become Europe’s biggest multi franchise hotel company, operating the Holiday Inn, Express by Holiday Inn, Courtyard by Marriott, Days Hotel and Crowne Plaza brands over a period of 8 years. Subsequently Jeremy ran Haven Holidays, the UK’s largest caravan park operator and was briefly Executive Chairman of Menzies Hotels, appointed by Lloyds Bank to oversee a restructure and eventual successful sale of the regional hotel group.

Professor Pingping Fu

Professor of Organisational Behaviour, Nottingham University Business School China

Panelist (Academia)

Professor Pingping Fu is currently a Professor of Organizational Behavior at Nottingham University Business School China (NUBS China). She obtained her PhD in Organizational Studies at the State University at Albany, New York. She has an MBA from the University of Nevada, Reno, MA in Journalism from the Academy of Social Sciences in China, and MA in Philosophy from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Her BA was in English Literature from Hangzhou University. Professor Fu was a member of the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavioral Effectiveness (GLOBE) research project team (1997-2017), and a member of the GLOBE board (2010-2017). She has led a dozen research projects supported by grants from the Hong Kong government; and is a coinvestigator of multiple CNSFC-sponsored projects. Her works have been published in various pretigious academic journals. In recent years, she has been studying companies that apply traditional philosophies to executive leadership, examining how they build company culture. She is also working on developing humanistic leadership, establishing a China Chapter the under Humanistic Management Network. 

Professor Andrew Bacon OBE

Chief Executive Officer, Enactus UK

Panelist (Industry)

Professor Andrew Bacon OBE is CEO of Enactus UK, a leading Social Enterprise leading the development and application of entrepreneurial leadership in pursuit of responsible business. Andrew has specialised in enterprise and leadership development, leadership of enterprise start-up and growth, cultural change, and productivity improvement. Andrew has worked for globally recognised organisations such as Lucas Automotive, Honda UK Manufacturing, United Technologies, KPMG, EDS, BT, Centrica/British Gas and currently Enactus UK. Andrew qualified as a professional engineer and has developed capabilities and skills across quality, production, operations, sales and general management. Andrew has worked in social, corporate, public and private sectors for over 34 years including automotive engineering, design, service and manufacture, and across the Ministry of Defence, Health, Corporate and Local Government.

Enactus UK supports students and young people across the country to engage in social action and social enterprise. Our mission in the UK is to be recognised as a leader in developing a national network of socially minded young responsible leaders of the future, who transform communities and society through real life social action and environmentally responsible enterprise.

Ahmad Izzat bin Ahmad Zaki

Chief Financial Officer, Education Performance and Delivery Unit (PADU), Ministry of Education Malaysia

Panelist (Government)

Ahmad Izzat Ahmad Zaki is the Chief Financial Officer at PADU Corporation, where he manages the company's finances, P2P (Procure-to-Pay) and multiple projects on behalf of the Ministry of Education, Malaysia. Prior to PADU Corporation, Izzat spent six years in finance and advisory roles at the Ministry of Finance, Malaysia. He also spent almost seven years in aviation industry at Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad, Malaysia Airports Consultancy Services and Malaysia Airports Sendirian Berhad. Izzat is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), and a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) as well as the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA).

PADU aims to deliver and monitor the Malaysian government’s aspiration to propel the country's education system towards a globally competitive system that will better prepare young Malaysians for the needs of the 21st century. The unit comprises the best of talents from civil and private sectors who will facilitate, support and deliver the Ministry of Education's vision in line with the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025.

Professor Martin Lockett

Dean, Nottingham University Business School China
Professor of Strategic Management

Moderator

Professor Martin Lockett’s career brings together the academic and business worlds. After 13 years’ research and teaching in leading universities (Cambridge, Open University, Imperial College, Oxford), he spent 16 years in a variety of senior business roles including general management, strategy consulting, business development, and management of major change programmes. This included working for John Lewis, KPMG, American Management Systems, Sapient and Arthur D Little with experience in Europe, Asia, US, Middle East and Africa. He then moved back to the academic world at Ashridge where he became Dean of Academic Development. In 2017, he moved to his current role as Dean of Nottingham University Business School China. Martin has taught on a wide range of degree programmes including undergraduate and masters/ MBA at universities and business schools including Cambridge, Oxford, Imperial College, Open University and Ashridge as well as visiting roles at Birkbeck College London and Syracuse University.