James Ashton

James was born and raised near Huddersfield in West Yorkshire and fell in love with newspapers after entering a school competition. He continued writing at the University of St Andrews where he studied English and edited the student newspaper, The Chronicle. At City University in London he took a postgraduate diploma in newspaper journalism.

As a conference facilitator, James is highly skilled at getting the best from panel speakers. He ensures a topical and pacey discussion and reacting to events.  Moreover, he also speakers on what the gig economy means for career development and the impact of increased shareholder activism on how managers manage.

After work experience placements with the Yorkshire Post, the Herald in Glasgow, the South Wales Echo and a scholarship to the Daily Iowan in the United States, his first job was at Reuters, covering the advertising and media industries as the dotcom bubble prepared to burst.

James was part of the launch team for Business AM, Scotland’s first financial newspaper, working in London and Edinburgh. He gained broader experience at the Scotsman and the Daily Mail as Chief City Correspondent.

James Ashton wrote the Inside the City Column for the Sunday Times

At the Sunday Times, James wrote the closely-followed Inside the City column, regularly broke stories on companies including Vodafone, HSBC and EMI and interviewed the brains behind LinkedIn, Skype and Facebook.

Appointed City Editor of the Evening Standard, James merged business desks with the Independent, Independent on Sunday and i newspaper. He  led the team filing across four newspapers and associated websites. In addition he wrote widely on London’s key industries including finance, professional services and technology . Moreover he wrote about the capital’s relationship with the rest of the UK.

As Executive Editor, he edited The Progress 1000, the Evening Standard’s compilation of London’s top influencers.  James has spoken at and hosted for the World Retail Congress (Madrid), Global Peter Drucker Forum (Vienna) CBI annual conference, IOD annual convention, campaign launches for Sopra Steria, EY, ABP/Royal Albert Dock, New West End Company.

James Ashton has had a front-row seat for many of the biggest economic and corporate stories of recent times

He was City Editor and Executive Editor at the Evening Standard and Independent titles and before that City Editor at the Sunday Times. He now writes regular columns and in-depth interviews for the Telegraph, Times and Mail on Sunday. His interviews have featured leaders from many of the biggest businesses in the world. They include the Bank of England, Barclays, Tesco, Virgin, General Electric, Nestlé, Huawei and Anglo American among others.

James is married with one daughter and lives in south London. In his spare time he enjoys running and swimming.

Oscar’s Book Prize

In memory of the son they lost in 2012, James and his wife Viveka set up Oscar’s Book Prize (oscarsbookprize.co.uk). This is a nationwide pre-school book award. The prize aims to champion the best in early years reading and remind parents of the importance of sharing books with their young children. Supporters include Amazon, the Evening Standard and the National Literacy Trust and the prize’s Royal patron is HRH Princess Beatrice.

In promoting the prize, James can speak about the UK’s literacy challenge that sees one in three children leave primary school at the age of 11 without having reached the expected reading level.

• The changing media landscape: how the drive to digital has redrawn newsrooms, monetisation and the stories that get told today.
• A macroeconomic overview: what is happening in the world right now?
• Leadership, technology and disruption: what chief executives fear most, the cult of the changemaker and why public markets fail to incentivise risk taking.
• Tomorrow’s cities: how corporations and municipal authorities must come together to capture talent and investment and tackle transport and housing challenges.