Ellis Watson enjoys a varied career during which time he has been responsible for transforming the Greyhound Bus operation in the US and heading Simon Cowell’s joint venture with Sony, the Syco Corporation. 

His first major role saw him as Marketing Director at The Sun newspaper ultimately answerable directly to Rupert Murdoch before making a move into the entertainment industry, becoming CEO of Celador International. There he was responsible for licensing ‘Who Wants to Be A Millionaire?’ to over 100 countries but it wasn’t too long before he found himself back on Fleet Street with Mirror Group Newspapers where took on his first leadership role in a PLC as Managing Director.

Ellis later moved to John Menzies leading distribution and logistics before becoming a board member of FirstGroup transforming the Greyhound Bus operation in America. This proved to be a major highpoint in his career changing poor public perception and service across the vastly overstretched network into a highly respected and reliable brand in just 14 months.

His work as global CEO of Simon Cowell’s Syco Corporation saw Ellis take a number of record labels and Television show formats onto great success. Among them the ever-popular Britain’s Got Talent and X Factor. 

He then went on to became Executive Chairman and CEO of DC Thomson Publishing where he has channelled a traditionally run six generation family company to international success, guaranteeing their future success in the process. He remains in his role as Executive Chairman of the Scottish Media Group.

An accomplished keynote and conference speaker, in his presentations Ellis imparts a wealth of information on how to deal with complex governance and talent. Inspiring and intelligent, he is also hugely entertaining.

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