Margaret Manning

Margaret Manning is one of the UK's most successful business personalities  and keynote speakers . Margaret's philosophy is to stimulate thinking on the communication benefits of the Internet, advocating the web as a "channel for business" through the creative use of technology, design and content. Margaret has given a number of keynote speeches, and hosted workshops and seminars, at national and international events - for example at Internet World in London and Sydney, Ad:Tech London; the Internet Advertising Bureau; the Institute of Directors, the Chartered Management Institute; the Princes Trust, and the IDM.

Having established Reading Room in the humble beginnings of a north London flat with a staff of just two, her company grew to employing 150 people and has offices in London, Manchester, Canberra, Sydney and Brisbane. Reading Room has also been the highest ranking digital agency in the Sunday Times Tech Track for two years running. Margaret sits on several boards and committees, including IPA's Digital Media Committee and The Media Society.

Margaret was voted Best Entrepreneur in EMEA at the 2009 International Stevie Awards in New York and was voted Female Entrepreneur of the Year in the 2008 Fast Growth Business awards.

She was also named one of the top 50 media people to watch in the ‘Courvoisier Future 500' in the Observer (Sunday 25th November 2007). In addition, Margaret was the winner in the Science & Technology section of the recent Lloyds TSB First Woman Awards and has been highly commended in the Credit Suisse – National Business Awards for Entrepreneur of the Year.

She has been involved with charitable work including Future Talent, the charity set up by the Duchess of Kent. She is a judge for the Young Entrepreneur of the Year run by the Princes Youth Business International. Margaret has judged the Student Enterprise Business Plan Presentations at the Henley Business School's Centre for Entrepreneurship. She has also spoken at Cranfield School of Management's MBA students and The London School of Economics to name a few.

A fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Margaret is a highly-respected figure within the New Media Industry and is currently on the IPA's Digital Media Committee and sits on the advisory panel of .Net magazine as well as being a committee member for the Media Society for whom she is produced a series of debates on the impact of the digital revolution. She was also previously Vice Chair for the British Interactive Media Association.

She is a former woman of achievement ambassador for the Lloyds TSB inspirational women association, and is included in Real Business's report on “Britain's 100 Most Entrepreneurial Women”.

In recent years, Margaret has had huge success delivering keynote speeches on a wide range of subjects including ‘Women in Business’, ‘Female Entrepreneurs’ and ‘How a Business Can Survive a Recession’ as well as various other topics.

As CEO of a top ten global agency (Interactive Media Awards), Margaret knows exactly what it takes to create and build a global, successful and, ultimately, happy business. It is this expertise and ‘no – nonsense', pragmatic approach that gives her an unparalleled ability to instil a real sense of aspiration in listeners and her outstanding oratorical skills ensure an informative, exciting, and memorable occasion.