Keynote SpeakerAshley Armstrong

An esteemed financial journalist, Business Editor Ashley Armstrong has revitalised The Sun’s Business section, providing crucial insights into the cost of living crisis and interviewing influential figures in the financial world. She has also been the Retail and M&A Editor at The Times and The Retail Editor at The Telegraph.

Ashley started her financial journalism career at City AM in 2008, reporting on the financial crisis before moving to cover mergers and acquisitions on listed companies for Mergermarket. She joined The Daily and Sunday Telegraph delivering regular scoops on the retail sector, including breaking news that Sir Philip Green had hired advisers for the break-up of Arcadia. She joined The Times as Retail Editor in July 2019, which included covering the impact of lockdowns on the high street, the explosion of online, rationing of groceries and shortages. She won PRCA City Journalist of the year in February 2022.

Since joining The Sun in July 2022 Ashley has revived the Business section, delivering a lively take on the cost of living crisis, with clear analysis on what higher interest rates and market movements mean for her readers.

She has grilled the Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey and invited some of the biggest bosses in Britain, including Marks & Spencer’s Stuart Machin, Sainsbury’s Simon Roberts, Primark’s Paul Marchant, ITV’s Dame Carolyn McCall and Sage’s Steve Hare to guest edit her section. She also regularly writes for The Sun’s news pages.

Ashley is a popular host, moderator and speaker for business events, interviewing leading figures from a range a sectors, while sharing the expertise and insights gained working as one of Britain’s most prominent business journalists.