The Lecture was held in the stunning setting of The Great Hall at Bart’s Hospital in the City of London. 

The conferences are being held at the London campus of Goodenough College, which is the principal residential centre for international post-graduate students, serving every academic and professional institution in the capital. Conferences are attended by 200 to 250 people from the academic, business and official worlds. In the case of the first two conferences, 25 of those attending were fellows of the 21st Century Trust (which has since been absorbed by the Salzberg Institute), who went on to discuss scenarios related to issues discussed at the conference.

The conference series focuses on four themes:

• Managing Migration: the neglected face of globalisation
• Meeting Social Need: what can be achieved by social entrepreneurs, corporate citizens and business in general?
• The Challenge of Sustainability: how is business evolving in response
• Business and Politics: risks, responsibility and security

Each conference is organised by the students at Goodenough College. They also chair the sessions, which are addressed by senior figures from the worlds of business, academe and government. The first three conferences have been held and synopses of the discussions at each can be found on the Goodenough College website www.goodenough.ac.uk. In the light of changes taking place in the business world, the subject of the fourth conference may be amended to ensure topicality is maintained.

There is a paucity of role models from ethnic minority backgrounds and this programme seeks to address this balance. The continued success of Asian entrepreneurs testifies to the staying power of the Asian business community. Asian wealth in the UK has become more diverse. It now crosses from first through to second and third generations. We see an emerging and evolving Asian business community spanning manufacturing and services, entertainment and fashion, hotels and property, food and pharmaceuticals.

Many Asian owned businesses are more famous than their owners. For example, not many people associate ebookers.com with its founder Dinesh Dhamija or Vitabiotics with Dr. Kartar Lalvani. Both are key players in the community but less well recognised outside.

The idea for the workshops came from the book ‘Making a Fortune – Learning from the Asian Phenomenon’ (Capstone) by Dr Spinder Dhaliwal which focuses on eleven successful entrepreneurs and was written to raise the awareness of this entrepreneurial minority and its contribution to the UK economy and beyond. Dr Dhaliwal has compiled ‘Britain’s Richest Asians’ for Eastern Eye for the past six years and has unprecedented access to some of the biggest names in Asian Entrepreneurship. 

Tacitus Lectures co-sponsored by the Trust are listed below:

Dr Vincent Cable, Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor and Deputy Leader: "After the financial crash what next?” (26 February 2009)

Mrs Naina Lal Kidwai, Chief Executive, HSBC India: "India's emerging role in the global economy" (28 February 2008)

Mr Antony Burgmans, Chairman Unilever: "The Role of Business in Society” (22 February 2007)

Sir Mark Moody-Stuart, Chairman Anglo American plc: "Business and NGOs in sustainable development - wars or common cause?” (23 February 2006)

Transcripts of the lectures may be found on the World Traders Company website www.world-traders.org/tacitus/ or by clicking on the above links.

The Tacitus Lecture takes its name from the Roman senator Publius Cornelius Tacitus who was born in about AD 56 and may have survived the emperor Trajan who died in AD 117. His Roman education, with its elaborate series of exercises in different kinds of public speaking, turned him into an impressive and famous orator, and one of the extant works attributed to him, the "Dialogue on Orators", is a discussion of oratorial style. It was Tacitus who, in his "Life of Agricola", described "Londinium" as "a town of highest repute and a busy emporium for trade and traders". Agricola, who was the Governor of Roman Britain, was also the father-in-law of Tacitus.

Rivers Lecturers and the subject of their addresses are listed below:

Ms. Judith Hackitt CBE, Chair of the Health & Safety Commission: “Leadership in Health and Safety – The Essential Role of the Board” (18 March 2009)

Sir Brian Bender KCB, Permanent Secretary of the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform “Science and Risk Management in Government”(12 February 2008)

Mr Stephen Green, Chairman of HSBC Holdings plc: “Integrity in a Global Market Place” (11 April 2007)

The Rt. Hon. The Lord Butler of Brockwell KG GCB CVO, formerly Secretary to the Cabinet and Head of the Home Civil Service and now Master of University College, Oxford: “Jim Hacker and Sir Humphrey” (14 March 2006)

Sir John Bourn KCB, Comptroller and Auditor General at the National Audit Office: “Auditing – is it value for money?” (10 March 2005)

Mr Richard Bowker, Chairman of the Strategic Rail Authority: “The Future for Integrity in a Regulated Society” (18 March 2004)

Lord Baker: “The Future of our Universities” (4 March 2003)

Sir Howard Davies, Chairman of FSA: “Regulation – Its importance to the Future of the Financial Services Industry” (5 March 2002)

Professor John Bridgeman, lately Director-General of Fair Trading: “Global Business – Local Consumers” (6 March 2001)

Mr Ken Livingstone (before he became Mayor): “The City and London” (8 March 2000)

The Rt. Hon. Lord Nolan PC: “Standards in Public Life” (4 March 1999)

Mr Bernard Harty, CBE D Phil CPFA FBCS, Town Clerk and Chamberlain of the Corporation of London: “The Prospect of the new Greater London Authority” (23 July 1998)

Sir Brian Jenkins, President of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry: “Financial Services: Where are we heading?” (10 September 1997)

www.wccsa.org.uk