NCL in Action Launch Day: London

With degrees in politics and history, Martin Farr teaches and researches contemporary history: the history of the present. He's broadcast and published widely, including books and articles on the First and Second world wars; British politics, parties, and elections; the media, US-UK relations, foreign and defence policy, popular culture, Margaret Thatcher, and tourism. 

Dr Angus Armstrong is Chief Economic Adviser at Lloyds Bank Group. Angus and his team are responsible for economic modelling, forecasting and formulating risk scenarios for the Group as well as providing economic and strategic advice to the Board. He has worked in the private and public sectors and academia and is particularly interested in uncertainty and financial stability issues.

Angus is a Professor of Research at the Institute for Global Prosperity (IGP) at University College London and Director of ‘Rebuilding Macroeconomics’, an inter-disciplinary research network hosted at IGP.

Prior to joining Lloyds, Angus was Director of Macroeconomics at NIESR and Head of Macroeconomic Analysis at HM Treasury. He was closely involved in formulating the Government’s response to the financial crisis and represented the UK at the G20 Officials meeting in 2009. Angus has also served as Special Adviser to various Parliamentary Committees. He has a PhD in economics from Imperial College London and is an Honorary Professor at Stirling University.

Rob - a proud graduate of Newcastle University and active alumni member - is a leading voice in the field of AI, a TEDx and keynote speaker, industry commentator, and an evangelist for the responsible and ethical adoption of technology and its impact upon society.

In his role at PwC, he advises clients, policymakers and other stakeholders on technology trends and best practices and leads the Tech for Good programme. He’s a Senior Visiting Fellow at Bayes Business School, and a founding board member of the UK's Parliamentary Group on AI.

HR Magazine ranks him as an ‘HR Most Influential Thinker’, Onalytica cites him as a ‘Who’s Who in AI’, and he was voted ‘Tech Community Leader of the Year’ at the CogX Festival. He won Editor’s Choice at the TechWomen100 Awards in recognition of his championing of the women in tech agenda. He has recently taken on the Great North Run where he fundraised for the Newcastle University Student Fund.

Ben Saoul is a senior British diplomat. He recently completed a posting as Minister-Counsellor for National Security and Foreign Policy at the British Embassy in Paris, managing the relationship with France on issues from small boats to the war in Ukraine.

Prior to this he served in frontline foreign policy roles in London and overseas, including as Head of the FCDO’s Crisis Management Department; leading UK preparations for triggering Article 50 during the process of leaving the EU; as Deputy Consul General in Jerusalem; and Press Secretary for Foreign Affairs and Defence to the Prime Minister in 10 Downing Street.

He was awarded an OBE in 2025 for services to British foreign policy. He is a Policy Fellow at the University of Cambridge and Adjunct Professor at Sciences Po Paris.

Newcastle University alumna, Ruth Sunderland, is an acclaimed business journalist, broadcaster, and senior editorial executive with a track record of agenda-setting interviews, scoops, insightful features and successful campaigns.

Before starting up her own company this autumn, she was Group Business Editor for the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, leading a seven-day business news operation with national influence. Awarded Business Journalist of the Year 2022 by London Press Club, Ruth has 20+ years newsroom leadership experience. She has interviewed global leaders including Bill Gates and Andrew Bailey, has produced and presented documentaries for BBC Radio 4’s Analysis and In Business and has been a regular guest on Sky’s Ian King Live.