Harry Claude Corbett

Founder and Director

Harry Corbett started his career as inter-dealer broker in the institutional markets in the City in 1980. After which he changed careers to become an Independent Financial Advisor with a focus on professionals in the City. Harry spends his time researching speakers, from the political class, economists and business leaders. His main focuses are that politicians should have a respectful environment to speak and the regions - ensuring that London is more sensitive to the success cases that take place in the rest of Britain.

Cristina Schek

Head of Logistics

Cristina Schek is Head of Logistics for Intelligence Forums, leveraging her expertise in languages and the arts. Beyond her logistical role, Cristina is a multifaceted professional, excelling as a photographer, videographer, website designer, and visual artist with a keen interest in the surreal.

Dr Thomas Smith

Environment Advisor

Dr Thomas Smith is a geographer and environmental scientist, specialising in interdisciplinary approaches to understanding the role of wildfires in the Earth system. Tom enjoys highly collaborative research focusing on wildland smoke emissions from fires in savannas and tropical peatlands, as well as at home in the UK. He is particularly interested in complex interactions between agricultural practices, land degradation, fire emissions characteristics and their associated impacts.

Keith Madeley MBE

Thought Innovation Coordinator for Yorkshire

Keith has one of the most effective networks and a high profile in Yorkshire - www.mryorkshire.com. He received an MBE in the New Year’s Honours list in 2011 for Service to the Communities of Yorkshire and was appointed a Lay Canon of Ripon Cathedral in 2013 for Services to Business and Education. He also promotes a series of bestselling and award-winning educational children’s books written by his wife, Chris, www.theconesbooks.co.uk.

Niels Pedersen

Fintech Innovation Leader

Niels Pedersen is a Chartered Accountant (ICAEW) and the author of Financial Technology: Case Studies in Fintech Innovation.  He is currently a Senior Lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University, teaching on its MSc Financial Technology programme.  Niels started his career at PwC and then worked at the Prudential Regulation Authority as an insurance regulator.  As a public speaker, he gives seminars and lectures on technology-related topics in the business sphere.  His thoughts have appeared in Newsweek, the Financial Times, and on BBC Radio Scotland.

Derek Kinchington BSc, PhD, FRCPath

SCIENTIFIC Adviser

Derek was the first member of Intelligence Forums and has helped in all the new initiatives that IF has started. He was at the first London, Birmingham and New York forum. Derek studied for his doctorate in Cell Biology at King’s College, London. From the early eighties he began his research to discover novel anti-HIV drugs at St. Mary’s and St Bartholomew’s Medical Schools. He was an editor of the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. In 2014 he was made a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists on the basis of his published works.

Dr Bruce Lloyd

Academic Correspondent

Dr Bruce Lloyd is Emeritus Professor of Strategic Management, London South Bank University. Spent over 20 years in industry and finance before joining the academic world thirty years ago to help establish the Management Centre at what is now London South Bank University. Since the late 1960’s he has written extensively (about 200 published articles) on a wide range of strategy/futures related issues. Bruce is a member of Chatham House and London Futurists.

Dr. Jennifer Considine

Intelligence Forums Honorary Oil And Commodities Correspondent

Dr. Jennifer Considine is a Senior Research Fellow with KAPSARC, Saudi Arabia, and Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the University of Dundee, Scotland.  Her previous positions include quantitative Market Risk analyst Husky Energy, and consultant to Pieridae Energy for commercial storage optimization.   Dr Considine has completed numerous projects involving options pricing, real options valuations of physical assets including electricity generation facilities, storage companies, and natural gas pipelines and contracts, risk management and hedging techniques, and trading strategies for a variety of commodities including natural gas, electricity and crude oil. Dr. Considine has worked with major international energy companies, including Husky Energy, Ecopetrol, Saudi Aramco, TransCanada Pipelines, Westcoast Energy, Coastal Corporation, Duke Energy, and ANR Pipeline Company. In Dr. Considine holds a Ph.D. in resource economics from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, and a M.A. in International Finance from the University of Chicago. On the research side, Dr. Considine has published a number of books and numerous articles concerning the global energy industry, with a focus on the history and development of the upstream petroleum industry in the Russian Federation.

She currently holds the position of Chief Editor, Energy Politics, an energy newsletter dealing with commercial strategies, and strategic planning in the global energy industry.   Dr. Considine is a former member of the Board of Directors for Canada Post, and founding member of a number of initiatives to promote Scottish-Canadian relations including the Canadian Friends of Scotland.

Specialties: High Frequency Trading strategies and technology, Russian Oil Industry, Econometrics and modeling, Options Pricing, Commercial Strategies

Melissa Davies

intelligence forums Honorary uk economist

Melissa Davies is Partner and Chief Economist at Redburn. She started her time in the City with the dubious privilege of joining Lehman Brothers just weeks before it collapsed, which hurled her into the world of macroeconomic research. After four years spent learning her trade at Lombard Street Research, she moved to Redburn in 2013 (now a subsidiary of Rothschild & Co) where she leads the Economics coverage, producing global research for institutional equity investor clients. Melissa’s career so far has spanned significant economic upheaval and renewal, including the Global Financial Crisis and subsequent unorthodox policy responses, rapid technological innovation, the Eurozone Crisis, three oil price collapses, the emergence of new political narratives, Brexit and the spread of COVID-19. 

Kevin McConway

intelligence forums Honorary Statistician

Kevin McConway is Emeritus Professor of Applied Statistics at the Open University. He retired from a full-time position there in 2016, after 36 years of teaching statistics and researching in Bayesian statistical methods and in biological, biomedical and other statistical applications. He has been a Vice-President of the Royal Statistical Society. He also has a long-standing interest in the way statistics are presented and used in the media. He works with the Science Media Centre, has helped train journalists on how to report statistics and science more generally, and is often called upon to comment on statistical issues for journalists.

Rita Roberts

Intelligence Forums Lead Diplomat

Rita Roberts born in Angola, over 30 years ago she made her way to England to save herself from a devastating war. In the first few years she struggled in every possible way to earn a living. Without any knowledge of the English language she worked in coffee shops while learning English, as her English improved she moved from coffee shops to restaurants, then the hospitality, then retail shops, one of them been Harrods and then as she became fluent in English she found that her knowledge of other languages was an asset. She started working as a freelance interpreter. Rita ended up creating one of the largest translation companies in England with 30+ staff speaking over 45 languages and assisted international business clients in translating complex legal agreements that spanned transactions across the globe. Now with a University Degree behind her and years of business acumen and succession the international trade, Rita is a force in facilitating international business agreements.

Now Rita is an HR professional and a serial entrepreneur, Founder of a number of companies such as Angola Business 4U, Immaculate Translations Ltd, Remap Properties Link, The Power Of Introductions. She is also an International Business Strategies Consultant on Cross-Cultural Management and Business etiquette. Before becoming a business owner, amongst all the jobs she engaged in Rita worked also worked as a Freelance translator and interpreter for several Law firms, then for the FSA and The Embassy Of Angola in London where she acquired a wealth of experience in recognising potential synergies between entities. She strategically encouraged business JV’s, made introductions, facilitated business relationships and presented investments opportunities. Within a decade working in this capacity, she introduced various companies to the Angolan government and local private companies for businesses JV and Investments.

At the end of her mission at the embassy she identified a language and culture difference gap on the international business settings. To respond to the need and bridge the language and culture difference gap, she created Angola Business 4U to facilitate business joint ventures between the U.K. and Angola. Then expanded to the rest of the western world and emerging countries bringing awareness to culture and language difference impact on businesses, she did it using a coaching approach.She used her influential network to facilitate and create synergies between Governments, people, companies and countries.

As an International Business Consultant she provides a wide range of services and expertise in Business Strategies; including language, Cross-Cultural and diversity managements for British Companies expanding or setting up business overseas or foreign companies expanding to the UK. She facilitates joint ventures, associations through introductions of Business2business, projects to investors in the UK, Africa and the rest of the world.

Her and her team rendered services to a variety of industries including Oil and Gas, financial services, the energy sector, technology, etc. She had a team created of interpreters for conferences and business seminars, expanded from few languages to 45. We provided traveling visa services by request to oil and gas clients.

Her Businesses were badly impacted by the pandemic Post Pandemic as she revives her companies, she Works as a post pandemic Executive Coach facilitating Executives journey back to Employment and she is also a consultant for an Expat Company.

Social Responsibility

Works with London Metropolitan University as a Career preparation Mentor to University Students

Rita was a Board member at Praxis Community Project for 3 years where she Part took on the decision making Board Meetings, strategic discussions for migrants rapid integration programs, advise to community groups on training and education for better employability opportunities.

Rita worked with the Nacional Skills Academy as Personal & Business coach and Mentor: Her job was to Empower and Inspire Business owners and Managers on how to maintain staff motivation and achieve growth and empower and build confidence of students preparing to enter employment in the financial sector.

Tom O’Brien

European Correspondent

Tom O’Brien is one of our European Correspondents, and also a co-founder of Wulfrun ROC. Tom is an exciting copywriter who helps clients in a diverse and ever-expanding range of sectors to hone their messaging. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA). Having spent a wonderful time living in Rennes while studying for his French degree (University of Liverpool), Tom is delighted to be one of our European Correspondents.

Monica Langa

The Edinburgh Chair

Monica Langa is an executive director of Fletcher Jones Ltd - an executive search practice, where she specialises in non-executive Board appointments and independent board evaluations, for the listed investment company and financial mutual sectors so she spends the majority of her time both advocating for and experiencing best practice in corporate governance, in some of the most highly regulated boards in the UK. She is a non-executive director Capital Credit Union, GoRoadie Ltd and Apollo Informal Investment Ltd.  Monica is also co-editor of the book: A Director's Guide to Governance in the Boardroom.

Martin Hall

Intelligence Forums Midlands Correspondent

M Hall Management Limited (mhallm) works with the commercial buyer of insurance in a coaching, mentoring and guidance role. Working with MD’s, FD’s and Boards to leverage relationships with their insurance brokers and insurers to ensure they achieve the best results for their business.

Over a 33 year career, Martin has joined insurance brokers, grown them, invested, acquired and sold them. He established mhallm in January 2022 to work closely with his clients and share his knowledge and expertise. In a post-covid environment and with most costs increasing, Martin’s insight is invaluable to businesses.

Martin is passionate about supporting students with real life experiences of the world of work, mentoring and supporting in both HARD and SOFT skills. Ensuring that students are ready for their future career paths, whatever they be.

Martin now acts as a NED for two businesses in his network, is the Head of Risk & Insurance for a growing peer-2-peer car sharing business, mentor for new businesses in the Greater Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and is a Trustee Director of Services for Education based in Birmingham.  When he finds the time, he is often found on a golf course somewhere in The Midlands.

Rebecca Farrington

Intelligence Forums Sheffield Correspondent

Rebecca Farrington has had a varied career within banking, change management and corporate learning and is currently a Learning Business Partner at KPMG. She is passionate about helping people be their best selves in the face of change and solving problems that matter to good people.

Craig Boddy

Intelligence Forums Middlesbrough correspondent

Craig Boddy runs Balliante, a Managed IT Service Provider based in Yorkshire and North-East England.  Interested in technology from a very early age, Craig pursued further education in Information Technology while working in electronics. 

With a strong focus on running his company as being technology led, rather than sales led,  Craig is passionate about introducing the latest IT advancements and improving digital skills across the region.

Craig likes the hands-on approach and loves getting involved with the process of improving people’s businesses using technology.  Particular enjoyment comes from automating tasks that could have seen users spending many stressful hours completing manually, and ensuring IT is a useful tool, and not a headache!

Away from work, Craig likes country pubs and walks, travel and warmer countries.

Ethan Thoburn

Intelligence Forums Newcastle upon Tyne Correspondent

Ethan Thoburn is a former local political representative who has a passion for the Tyne and Wear and Northumberland area, driving inward investment and promoting the region he hails from. Ethan has extensive experience in the political world, policy making, the music industry, sports, hospitality and travel. He has edited think tanks as well lead offices in Parliament. He has a strong background in running campaigns and working with various stakeholder groups.

Scott Wellcome

Intelligence Forums Honorary Advisor of Grain Risk Management and Sourcing

Scott Wellcome is the Director of Grain Risk Management & Sourcing at GoodMills Group GmbH, based in Vienna, Austria. The GoodMills group is Europe’s largest wheat milling company, operating in 7 EU countries with 24 milling operations, alongside its innovations, planted based-protein and pulses facilities.

His day-to-day focus is helping the group manage its operational risks, whether they be raw material price risk, energy needs or supply chain logistics related.

His career began in 1988 in London and as well as currently working in Austria, has also worked in Switzerland & Dubai, for both multi-national and private trading commodity companies.

Francesca Docker

North East correspondent for Intelligence Forums

Francesca Docker is the North East correspondent for Intelligence Forums. Her previous experience includes being co-founder and COO of Hey! Food is Ready, where she successfully developed and managed an innovative online marketplace connecting independent cooks with clients, including Google, Barclays, The Department for International Trade, and Condé Nast, in Newcastle and London. During her time, she played a pivotal role in improving job opportunities for over forty cooks from diverse backgrounds, and was actively involved in two refugee communities. This venture earned recognition through various accolades, including winning ‘The Blueprint Startup Challenge’ in 2022, and being shortlisted for ‘Best Food Startup of the Year in the North East, Yorkshire and the Humber’ in 2023.

She has spoken at The British Library, the West End, Sheffield Lyceum/Crucible, and has participated in panel discussions/delivered presentations at Durham University, Hull University and Cambridge Judge Business School’s Centre for Social Innovation. Additionally, she founded The Cultured Giraffe, a cultural website for creatives, and The Bookmoth Podcast, where she interviewed academics on literary issues. She received a ‘Student Employee of the Year Award’ from Durham University in 2022, and was one of seven female students chosen out of US and UK universities to be shortlisted for ‘UNiDAYS Student Women of the Year Award’ in 2023.

Jack Crawford

Intelligence Forums Glasgow Correspondent

Jack Crawford is an Investment Manager with Quilter Cheviot operating out of the Glasgow Office. He manages bespoke Investment portfolios for a range of Private Clients, Personal Pensions, Trusts and Corporates. Jack is a Chartered Wealth Manager and holds a BSc Hons from Queens University Belfast, where he read Economics with Finance. He is also a Chartered Member of the Securities Institute.

Claire Acklam

Intelligence Forums Leeds Correspondent

Claire Acklam is one of our Leeds Correspondents and Senior Legal Counsel at Leeds Bradford Airport. Prior to joining the Airport, Claire worked at Walker Morris LLP, a leading Leeds commercial law firm, as a Director in the Commercial Dispute Resolution team supporting a diverse client base in resolving their disputes. She was a member of the Women in Leadership group and a Diversity Champion and continues to support Diversity and Inclusion initiatives at the Airport.

Tommaso Johannes Forni

Tommaso is the first recipient of the Intelligence Forums ERIC award

This Award is given to a student (not yet at work) that embraces: Entrepreneurial endeavour. Respect for the Counter View. Informed Decisions and Policy. Curiosity.

I am going into my fourth and final year of law studies at Lancaster University. Over the past three years studying law I have gained a keen interest in commercial law, having studied modules like international commercial arbitration and law & AI. I have also undertaken internships at law firms including Norton Rose Fulbright LLP and TLT LLP. I am particularly interested in the energy sector’s transition towards net-zero, ESG regulations and AI.

Claude Corbett-Graham

IF Mascott

Claude is a good listener and interested in the agricultural sector.