The Bristol Distinguished Address Series (BDAS)

The Bristol Distinguished Address Series (BDAS) provides a unique opportunity to hear about challenges and decisions being made at the highest level of strategic leadership by high-profile business executives from across the country.

Autumn 2021 Series

Watch out for the Autumn 2021 Series. Look forward to hearing from industry leaders including Pfizer, The Royal Television Society, Arts Council England, Mott MacDonald and The Royal Mint. Details announced in the summer.

This series of free public lectures brings top-level business leaders to Bristol. If you have any queries please email the Events Team at events@uwe.ac.uk. You can discuss these events on Twitter using the hashtag #BristolLectures.

Highlights from previous Bristol Distinguished Address Series

Previous talks

Professor Lyndsay Duthie, CEO, The Production Guild of Great Britain

Professor Lyndsay Duthie

Professor Lyndsay Duthie, CEO of The Production Guild of Great Britain delivered a lecture titled "Pushing past the pandemic, what's next for film and television?"
Jacqueline de Rojas CBE, President, techUK, President, Digital Leaders, Co-Chair IoC

Jacqueline de Rojas

Jacqueline de Rojas CBE, President of techUK and Digital Leaders, and Co-Chair of IoC, delivered a lecture titled “Diversity and inclusion - why it's never been more important.”
Peter Lord, Co-founder and Creative Director of Aardman Animations

Peter Lord

Peter Lord, Co-founder and Creative Director of Aardman Animations, delivered a lecture titled “A life in animation: getting going to letting go”.
Perminder Mann, CEO, Bonnier Books UK, BDAS Autumn 2020

Perminder Mann

Perminder Mann, CEO of Bonnier Books, delivered a lecture a part of the Bristol Distinguished Address Series titled “Be Your Authentic Self”.
Doug Perkins, Chair and Founder and Dame Mary Perkins, Co-founder, Specsavers, BDAS Autumn 2020,

Doug and Dame Mary Perkins

Co-founders of Specsavers, Doug and Dame Mary Perkins, delivered a lecture titled "Building the World's Largest High Street Optics and Audiology Brand."
NHS nightingale hospital

Panel Discussion: NHS Nightingale Hospital Bristol

For the first of the virtual Bristol Distinguished Address Series, also the Annual Bolland Lecture, we were delighted to host a panel discussion on Bristol’s Nightingale Hospital.
Photo of Lisa Opie

Lisa Opie

Lisa Opie, Managing Director of BBC Studios UK Production, delivered a lecture as part of the Bristol Distinguished Address Series titled "TV as a Force For Good.”
Black and white photo of Xavier Brice

Xavier Brice

Xavier Brice, Chief Executive, Sustrans, delivered a lecture as part of the Bristol Distinguished Address Series titled "Living and moving well together”.
A picture of Katherine Bennett

Katherine Bennett

Katherine Bennett CBE, Senior Vice President, Airbus & Chair, Western Gateway, delivered a lecture as part of the Bristol Distinguished Address Series entitled "What does internationalisation mean in C21st for global corporations?".
A photo of Bevis Watts

Bevis Watts

Dr Bevis Watts, Chief Executive of Triodos Bank UK delivered a lecture as part of the Bristol Distinguished Address Series entitled "Bankers must become Eco-warriors".
Bruce Carnegie-Brown

Bruce Carnegie-Brown

Bruce Carnegie-Brown, President of CMI & Chairman of Lloyd's delivered a lecture as part of the Bristol Distinguished Address Series entitled "21st Century Management”.
A photo of Arabel Bailey

Arabel Bailey

Arabel Bailey, Managing Director of Innovation and Consulting Services at Accenture, delivered a lecture as part of the Bristol Distinguished Address Series titled 'Surviving and thriving in a disrupted world'.
Andrew Jennings at the BDAS event 2019

Andrew Jennings

Andrew Jennings, Chairman, Board Member & Senior Advisor, delivered a lecture as part of the Bristol Distinguished Address Series entitled "The Changing Retail Landscape and how to succeed."
Deanna Oppenheimer

Deanna Oppenheimer

Deanna Oppenheimer, Founder of Cameoworks and Chair of Hargreaves Lansdown, delivered the University's prestigious Annual Bolland Lecture as part of the Bristol Distinguished Address Series with her talk titled ‘A Tale of Tech in Two Cities’.

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Read our answers to popular questions about the Bristol Distinguished Address Series events.

Partner organisations

  • Association of Chartered Certified Accountants logo
  • Bristol City Council logo
  • Bristol Creative Industries logo
  • Bristol Junior Chamber logo
  • Bristol Law Society logo
  • Business West logo
  • Confederation of British Industry logo
  • Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development logo
  • Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy
  • Chartered Management Institute logo
  • Federation of Small Businesses logo
  • Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales logo
  • Institute of Directors logo
  • West of England Combined Authority

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