Keynote Speaker - Dr Rebecca Harding
Uncertainty is the New Certainty
Dr. Rebecca Harding is an independent trade economist, public speaker and digital and sustainable trade and supply chain specialist. Her affiliations include roles as an Associate at Earendel Associates, a Senior Fellow at the British Foreign Policy Group and an Associate Partner in the T3i Partner network. She is the founder of strategic advisory business, Rebeccanomics.
In 2022 she was awarded the “Net Zero Entrepreneur of the Year” at the annual Scale Up Group’s Enterprise Awards. In 2025 Rebecca was appointed CEO of the Centre for Economic Security. Rebecca is the current Chief Economist of the Defence, Security & Resilience Bank. She has also been made an associate of The Alphen Group – a NATO think tank focussing on geopolitics, strategy and innovation.
She has built three data-based technology businesses in the data, digital trade and ESG space, held senior positions as Head of Corporate Research at Deloitte, Senior Fellow at London Business School, and Chief Economist roles at the Work Foundation and at UK Finance (formerly the British Bankers Association). She acted as Specialist Adviser to the Treasury Select Committee and advised the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Entrepreneurship. She has acted as a trade finance and supply chains expert witness, is a member of the World Trade Board, the ITFA’s ESG Committee and the ICC’s sustainable trade finance technology sub-committee. Between 2004 and 2018 she was a Director and Trustee of the German-British Forum. She advises members of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Climate Security.
Rebecca is well-known in the world of trade and trade finance as an expert and as an entertaining and insightful key-note speaker and moderator who draws on her unique combination of practice-based experience and academic research in international economics, political risk and trade.
Her co-authored books, “The Weaponization of Trade: the Great Unbalancing of Policy and Economics" and “Gaming Trade: Win-Win Strategies for the Digital Era” have defined the trade-based nature of geostrategy in the digital era. Her latest book due out late 2025 is, “The World at (Economic) War? From economic warfare to economic security.” She provided the business case for the adoption of paperless trade documents into UK law (the Electronic Documents Trade Act); her work on the “regulatory paradox” of current sustainability reporting requirements has catalysed the establishment of the ITFA’s cross-industry ESG Working Group to set sustainability reporting and audit standards. She has authored 8 other books on the German economy, global innovation policy, and SME financing and Venture Capital. Her high media profile includes frequent appearances on BBC Television and Radio, Sky News, CNBC, and Times Radio, as well as citations in the broadsheet media.
BOSS Members will take away:
- A clear picture of the contested geopolitical and geoeconomic landscape that currently shapes the reality for businesses
- Insight into how global trade and business dynamics have been transformed by trade wars since January 2025
- An understanding of the direction of UK government policy in relation to business and the economy over the coming year
- A vision of potential policy and business solutions, and how the UK can play a key role in advancing economic security
Speaker - Cory Lowde
Understanding the next generation entering the workforce
Cory has over three decades of experience in international leadership, including ten years as the head of a co-educational independent boarding school near London. As a respected leader and thinker in the field of education Cory will offer unique insights into the evolving landscape of education and its impact on the future workforce. He will share valuable perspectives on the generation now preparing to enter the world of work.
BOSS Members will take away:
- A deeper understanding of the attitudes, behaviours, and values the next generation brings to the workplace
- Insight into the expectations young people have of their future employers and the reasons behind them
- An exploration of how artificial intelligence is shaping children's development and influencing future career paths
- A picture of the ambitions and focus schools have in preparing pupils for future employment