(Virtual) Building a ‘Global Britain’ – ways, means and ends

Kate Adie grew up in Sunderland and gained her BA from Newcastle University where she read Swedish. She became a familiar figure through her work as BBC Chief News Correspondent. She is considered to be among the most reliable reporters, as well as one of the first British women sending despatches from danger zones around the world. Kate is also the long-serving presenter of Radio 4’s From Our Own Correspondent and a presenter or contributor to many other radio and television programmes. As a television news correspondent, Kate’s memorable assignments include both Gulf Wars, four years of war in the Balkans, the final NATO intervention in Kosovo and elections in 2000; the Herald of Free Enterprise disaster at Zeebrugge, the massacre at Dunblane, the Selby rail crash, the SAS lifting of the Iran Embassy Siege in London, the Bologna railway station bombing and the Tiananmen Square protest in Beijing in 1989. Kate carried out numerous assignments in Northern Ireland throughout "The Troubles" as well as reporting on the referendum to ratify the Good Friday Agreement. Kate covered the Lockerbie bombing and reported from Libya after the London Embassy siege of 1984, reporting from Libya many times thereafter, including the bombing of Tripoli by the US in 1986. She also covered the Rwandan Genocide and the British military intervention in the Sierra Leone Civil War. She has served as a judge for the Orange Prize for Fiction, now the Bailey’s, and the Whitbread, now the Costa Prize, and recently, the RSL Ondaatje Prize. Kate has also served as a trustee of the Imperial War Museum and is a trustee of Sunderland Football Foundation. Kate has honorary degrees from universities including Newcastle, Bath, Nottingham, Cardiff and St Andrews and is Honorary Professor of Journalism at Sunderland University.
Kate was honoured with a Bafta Fellowship in 2018.

Lord Grimstone of Boscobel Kt was appointed unpaid Minister for Investment jointly at the Department for International Trade and the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy on 18 March 2020. Before joining government, his career spanned the private and public sectors. His roles have included:

- chairman of Barclays Bank plc and Standard Life Aberdeen
- lead non-executive on the board of the Ministry of Defence
- chairman of financial services body, TheCityUK, from 2012 to 2015
- member of HM Treasury’s Financial Services Trade and Investment Board

Lord Grimstone has held board appointments across many sectors and served as one of the UK’s Business Ambassadors. He has a particular interest in UK-China and UK-India relations. He has joined several Prime Ministerial visits, including the annual Economic and Financial Dialogues between the countries. He also chaired TheCityUK China Market Advisory Group. Lord Grimstone was knighted in 2014 for public service to defence and business.

Professor Michael Mainelli FCCA FCSI (Hon) FBCS, Executive Chairman, Z/Yen Group, is a qualified accountant, securities professional, computer specialist, and management consultant, educated at Harvard University and Trinity College Dublin. Michael gained his PhD at the London School of Economics where he was also a Visiting Professor of Innovation & IT. Michael is Emeritus Professor, Fellow, & Trustee at Gresham College where he created the London Finance initiative asking “when would we know our financial system is working?” His third book, The Price of Fish: A New Approach to Wicked Economics and Better Decisions, won the Independent Publisher Book Awards Finance, Investment & Economics Gold Prize. Michael is an Alderman and Sheriff of the City of London 2019-2021.