Since 2003, The Champions Speakers Agency have booked leading speakers for events all over the world. From keynote to after dinner speakers, our roster of thought leaders has grown to encompass a wealth of industries, topics, and areas of academic study. We have become one of the UK’s leading speaker bureaus, widely recognised for our comprehensive booking service.
With offices stationed all over the globe, from Costock to Mayfair and even Dubai, we have networked with global speakers, projecting their diverse perspective at international conferences and exhibitions. Our team of 100+ experts have spent over a decade hiring revolutionary speakers for events, establishing Champions as the go-to booking agency.
100+
dedicated team
members.
20
years valuable
experience.
66
the number of countries
we operate in.
2024
We have hit the ground running in 2024 here at Champions Speakers!
We are honoured to have been named as one of the Top 50 Fastest Growing Businesses in the UK, on the 2024 UK Fast Growth Index - earning selection out of 5.6 million businesses!
Having secured an incredible 5327 speaking events throughout 2023, we hope to exceed that number in 2024.
We have already booked speakers for many exciting events, such as International Women's Day and Pride Month, and we cannot wait to see what else the year has in store.
2023
In 2023 we enjoyed yet another successful year of both virtual and in-person speaking engagements, as we celebrated our 20th anniversary!
We secured a phenomenal 5327 speaking engagements with our talented speakers, working in over 66 countries across the globe!
Additionally, in 2023, we launched The Cyber Security Speakers Agency, The High-Performance Speakers Agency, The Inspirational Leadership Speakers Agency and The AI Speakers Agency - specialist speaker bureaus dedicated to the highest calibre speakers on the circuit.
We were also honoured to have been listed as one of JP Morgan's Top 200 Female Powered Businesses in the UK - a testament to the many incredibly powerful women that we are blessed to work with here at Champions Speakers!
Here is to a highly successful 2024!
2022
In 2022 we continued to book a mixture of both in-person and virtual speaking engagements, smashing the 1,000,000 mark with the number of people we have inspired with virtual talks.
With many new exciting clients in 2021, we continue to build on our ever-increasing client roster with many more industry-leading names.
One of the many highlights of 2022 was hiring Sir Richard Branson for a speaking engagement, and we hope to continue securing speaking engagements with such high-profile speakers throughout 2023.
After booking a record-breaking 1437 jobs in 2021, we look to continue that success in the year to come!
2021
Following the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, we launched The Virtual Speakers Agency. Our expert team specialises in matching speakers and entertainers with online events, allowing our corporate clients to maximise the digital opportunities available.
We also started The LGBT Speakers Agency, Mental Health Speakers Agency and the Diversity & Inclusion Speakers Agency. All four websites were launched in response to the pressing topics prevalent in society today, like equality and wellbeing. This was also accompanied by the launch of The Sustainability Speakers Agency and The Female Motivational Speakers Agency.
Our team continues to support our clients in their quest for a more inclusive, understanding culture, through the inspiring speakers featured on these sites.
2020
Expanding our reach even further, 2020 saw the opening of our first overseas office in Dubai, located in the Dubai World Trade Centre.
This year, we also reached our 10 year anniversary of supporting the essential children's charity, Rainbows. With the support of our team, we have raised over £2,000,000.00.
One of the highlights of our year, was when we booked Robert Hannigan, GCHQ's Director-General, for a conference in Kuwait to reach 66 countries worldwide.
2019
As our team continued to grow, we welcomed the opening of our state of the art £1,000,000.00 research and media centre, by the Right Honourable Ken Clarke. An increase in staff brought with it an increase in sustenance; over 27 kilos of coffee, 13,800 cups of tea and 150 cakes baked by our popular Cake Club were consumed in 2019!
A pinnacle event was the appearance of Apple's Creative Genius, Ken Segall, at our Champions Networking Breakfast at The Gherkin in London, where he gave an incredible speech. In recognition of our growth, we were listed 3rd in Insider Growth 100 Awards 2019.
2018
Following the increased desire for online content regarding social media promotion, Champions launched Influencer Matchmaker. We quickly became an industry leader in all things blogging, vlogging and video content.
2017
Following the ever growing demand from our nation's capital, in 2017 Champions celebrated our first office in Mayfair.
In the same year, Champions Speakers delivered the first quarterly Networking Breakfast at the top floor of The Gherkin, London.
2016
After winning a multi-million-pound music and entertainment contract with Rank plc, delivering over 10,000 headline music and tribute acts, we launched Champions Music & Entertainment - a dedicated website for an array of music artists, comedians and entertainers.
Former Leicester City CEO, Barrie Pierpoint also joined our team, as a business and personal development coach.
2015
2015 was an exciting year for Champions. Our increasing influence in the speaking industry required a bigger team to manage the growth, therefore an extension of the existing building was commissioned, taking us into the next year.
On the 25th of September 2015, six years after the original building was opened, the Rt. Hon. Kenneth Clarke QC MP returned to celebrate the debut of our new office.
2014
As a brand, Champions was built by a team of award-winning industry leaders, including Matthew Hayes. Our Managing Director was named haysmacintyre Top Gun at the Young Guns Awards, an accolade honouring the most impactful entrepreneurs aged 35 and under in the UK.
Also in 2014, Champions was named the Santander Breakthrough50 Awards winner, a testament to our early success and sustained growth.
2013
Champions was listed in the London Stock Exchange1000 Companies to Inspire Britain, and became a founding member of the European Association Speaker Bureaux.
We also hosted the first of many annual National Tribute Music Awards (NTMAs), celebrating the best tribute acts in the world. The event is now covered by the BBC, ITV, Made TV and Metro.
2012
In 2012, we were listed on the Insider Growth100 Table, The Sunday Times' FastTrack100 (57th), The Telegraph 1000 Britain's Brightest Businesses and Leicestershire's Top 200 Companies.
We began a partnership with children's hospice Rainbows, kickstarting £2 million of fundraising in the past decade. Additionally, the Champions team partnered Heat Holders with Big Brother star and DIY expert Craig Phillips, for a greatly successful brand campaign.
2010
In 2010, Champions rebranded from Champions After Dinner Speakers to Champions: The Speakers Agency, following an increase in international clients, keynote speakers and sector-specific requests.
2009
After a steady growth of clients for the previous six years, Champions built its first purpose-built offices in the grounds of owner, John Hayes. The great stride was celebrated with over 250 of our staff and clients, as the office was officially opened by The Rt. Hon. Kenneth Clarke QC MP on Friday 25th September 2009.
2008
Having massively outgrown the small space we occupied in the house, we chose to commission purpose-built premises on the property to house our expanding team, and enable us to pursue rapid growth in the years ahead.
2003
In 2003, Champions was founded by father and son, John and Matthew Hayes, who employed their first two staff members in the company's debut year.
Champions was quickly honoured with the 2003 Business of the Year in Leicestershire & Rutland.