Michael Taylor hosts events and debates drawing on his experience as an award-winning business journalist. His clients include government-backed coaching service GrowthAccelerator, Deloitte, JMW Solicitors, Institute of Chartered Accountants England and Wales (ICAEW), Daisy Group, Seneca, and The Prince’s Trust.
He led the ICAEW’s “Tomorrow’s Practice” project, speaking at events and seminars and encouraging fresh thinking about the future of the profession. Similarly, he led the touring roadshow to launch the GrowthAccelerator service in October 2012 in eight English cities and has fronted major corporate internal events for large corporates, charities, and public sector organisations.
In his events work Michael has interviewed senior leaders and public figures such as Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller (former head of M15), Theo Paphitis (Ryman and Dragon’s Den), Jacqueline Gold (CEO, Ann Summers), Frank Cottrell Boyce (screenwriter and novelist), Sir Charles Dunstone (co-founder, Carphone Warehouse), Lloyd Dorfman (founder, Travelex), Jon Cridland (former CBI director-general), Matthew Riley (CEO, Daisy Group), Fred Done (co-owner, BetFred), Lord Andrew Adonis (former Labour minister), Allan Leighton (chairman, The Co-operative Group), Peter Salmon (director, BBC Studios), Andrew Marr (journalist and broadcaster), and Cass Pennant (ex-hooligan and author).
He is a frequent commentator on business issues on the BBC and has media-trained the senior management team of a major firm of accountants and a leading retail property business.
Previous to his recent events role he was the editorial director of publishing group Insider and won many awards for his investigative journalism and business commentary. In 2013 he founded DISCUSS, a new debating forum designed to stimulate intellectual curiosity and discourse.
In business, he is a director and investor in three firms in finance, communications, and events, a non-executive director of Liberty Pensions, and on the board of The University of Manchester Alumni Association. He stood for parliament for Labour in the 2015 General Election in Hazel Grove on a pro-business, pro-devolution platform and increased the Labour vote by 50%.
Michael has just published his first novel. 40 by 40 is a comic crime thriller set in Cheshire’s “Golden Triangle” telling the story of anti-hero Roger Cashmore, an amoral Cheshire entrepreneur who seeks to make a £40m fortune before he turns 40.
Michael is available to host awards, facilitate workshops, speak about his experiences, and conduct live interviews with leaders.