TOPIC: "HOW THE CREATIVE INDUSTRIES CAN ENCOURAGE BRITISH GROWTH"

John Makinson is the Chairman and Chief Executive of the Penguin Group, the international publishing company. He was the Finance Director of Pearson, Penguin’s parent company, between 1996 and 2002, and is a member of the Pearson Board.

John's career has included journalism and investor relations both in London and abroad. From 1994 to 1996 he was the managing director of the Financial Times newspaper where he was responsible for the production, distribution and marketing of the newspaper worldwide.

He moved to the Financial Times from Makinson Cowell, the firm that he co-founded and ran from 1989 to 1994. Makinson Cowell is a specialist independent consultancy which advises leading international companies on their relationships with the financial community.

John is Chairman of the National Theatre, a Trustee of the Institute for Public Policy Research, the UK’s leading progressive think tank, as well as a director of the International Rescue Committee, a humanitarian organisation.

From 1986 to 1989 he held the position of vice chairman of Saatchi & Saatchi's US holding company.

He shall giving a lecture on the topic of how Britain can use its creative industries as a propeller for growth.