SPEAKER: : PETER HOBDAY

Peter Hobday is one of Britain's best known broadcasters. He recently retired as a presenter on the BBC Radio Four morning radio programme Today, which is required listening for Britain's politicians, businessmen and opinion-formers. He has presented a wide range of BBC radio and television programmes.

He was the anchor man for the award-winning Money Programme on BBC 2 and helped launch the now much respected late night current affairs programme Newsnight, where he was both an anchor man and economic specialist. He also helped launch the Business Programme on Channel Four. He currently presents a weekly political programme at Pebble Mill for BBC Midlands.

Outside broadcasting and journalism he is also in demand as a conference chairman. He has chaired conferences in the defence and automobile industry, pensions, aerospace, human resources, finance and accountancy. He is particularly skilled in involving the audience in "Question Time" debates. Being bilingual in French and English, Peter Hobday has also used his language skills and is a regular contributor to French and French-Canadian television. He has chaired international conferences in Paris and Brussels using both languages.

Peter Hobday is a visiting professor at De Montfort University in media studies. He is also one of the leading media trainers in the industry, helping business leaders and heads of public organisations to prepare for television and radio interviews.