James Ashton

I lead the Quoted Companies Alliance, the organisation that champions the UK’s 1000+ small and mid-sized companies whose shares are publicly traded, their advisers and investors. The QCA’s mission is to help this community thrive by sharing good practice and campaigning for the best conditions for the public markets so that businesses can source the funds to grow, operate transparently and distribute wealth, fairly – all without unnecessary cost and complexity. We provide a voice that seeks to shape policy with regulators and government, host conferences and networking events to showcase the latest thinking on leadership, investment, technology and good governance, and conduct and promote research that explores the challenges and opportunities facing our members.

FTSE 250 investment trust. A portfolio built on world-class UK companies. Managed by Lindsell Train.

Trustee of the one of the UK's leading reading charities, which provides one-to-one support to thousands of children across the UK.

The Everything Blueprint, the story of the flagship British technology company Arm and its place in the global microchip ecosystem, is published by Hodder & Stoughton. Sir James Dyson called it "a gripping and inspiring read”; Reid Hoffman said it was "an essential account of a vital industry". The FT chose it as one of its summer books for 2023. The Nine Types of Leader (Kogan Page, published January 2021) examines the leadership playbook of the Fixers, Sellers, Lovers, Humans and more. What can the leaders of tomorrow learn from today's CEOs? Featuring case studies from Procter & Gamble, Royal Mail, Mastercard and Engie. FTSE: The Inside Story (Nicholas Brealey, published November 2020) relates the awkward union of the Financial Times with the London Stock Exchange that created a British brand recognised the world over. FTSE has become a byword for money, power and influence, and, along with a small set of rival stock indices, increasingly important as investment decisions have shifted from human to machine. Co-written with FTSE founder Mark Makepeace.

I oversaw the annual search for the UK's best picture book, set up in honour of my late son, whicih was supported by Amazon and the London Standard. Our £10,000 prize established itself as a leading award in early years literature. We sought to encourage more parents to read with their children.

Journalism and podcasting: columns and interviews for the Telegraph (Questor investment column), Times (CEO interviews), Barron's (newsletter commentary), Management Today, Spear's, Business Insider, strategy+business. My podcast Leading with James Ashton (Leadingpod.com) featured CEOs from diverse organisations – such as the Royal Air Force, Deloitte, Wellcome Trust, the Scouts, Fortnum & Mason, Barnardo's and RFU - sharing stories about how they learnt to lead. Conference speaking and facilitation: business, leadership and technology keynotes and panel moderation in the UK and abroad including for World Retail Congress, CBI, British Airways, JLL, Global Peter Drucker Forum, Milken Institute London Summit, Institute of Directors, Tata Group. Content and consultancy: communications and research projects for blue-chip clients including corporate narrative, media audit, speeches, white papers, leadership videos and executive media training. Senior adviser roles with Portland Communications (Oct 2020-Jan 2022) and Pagefield Communications (Feb 2017-Sept 2020).

Director of Comic Relief Ltd and member of the charity's commercial and technology board. I advised on partnerships, strategic direction, international footprint and media representation.

A senior, group-wide role that gave me the freedom to write broadly, influence the editorial agenda and lead on selected projects. I combined regular commentaries on issues of the day with interviews with leaders of British institutions such as the Bank of England, the BBC Trust, Tesco, Oxfam and the National Trust. I represented the group externally by chairing events, led our coverage of the World Economic Forum in Davos and travelled to Kenya, India and the United States on assignment. I edited The Progress 1000, the Evening Standard’s annual compilation of London's most influential people.

I led business coverage across the group, managing a team of writers and production staff. On joining, I merged three business desks into one, creating an integrated editorial operation of 30 people. I oversaw a budget, directed how we tailored content for each title, increasing the range and relevance of the business sections and rethinking our digital and TV output. At the same time, I wrote widely and forged strong links with the Square Mile and wider business community. I took a lead role in creating Business Connections, a commercial venture that was the Evening Standard’s club for entrepreneurs and small businesses, whose events I chaired.

Coverage of broad City and corporate issues. Breaking news and analysis. Topics included: executive pay, technology trends, the banking crisis, corporate governance. Corporate subject matter included: HSBC regime change, Royal Mail restructuring, BT pensions. As a senior team member I wrote the closely-followed Inside the City column plus regular interviews with prominent business leaders.

Chronicling the faces and technologies transforming the communications landscape. Extensive sectoral coverage included ITV, EMI and Vodafone.