Andrew Morris

Andrew Morris is Chief Executive of the Academy for Chief Executives. He has been a leading figure in the media and events industry for over twenty five years. He is a Non-Executive Director of both ShortList Media and Upper Street Events and has a wide portfolio of business interests.

Morris launched the innovative Business Design Centre in Islington in 1986 which became the most stylish and successful boutique venue in the UK, founding the
London Art Fair, Country Living Fair and New Designers.

In 1999, Andrew partnered with Candover Investments and led the management buy-in of Earls Court & Olympia, acquired from P&O. Using the strategic tools of
capital investment, customer service and the event organising arm, Clarion Events, the business prospered and was successfully sold to Nomura and St James’s Capital in
2004.

Later that year, Andrew became CEO of the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) in Birmingham where he transformed the culture from ‘council’ to ‘commercial’ through, amongst other things, a transformative leadership development programme. Another strategic move was to create a destination experience focusing on entertainment, a long term project that includes a new casino complex.

Andrew describes himself as a creative businessman, who enjoys meeting people from all facets of life. His mantra is ‘take your job seriously, but not yourself.’