BREAKFAST EVENT: Nigel Murray, MD of Booths & Geoff Thomas MBE, Ex-England Footballer and Patron of Cure Leukaemia

Join us to connect & catch up with entrepreneurs, business owners and leaders from the Manchester region and to hear from our speakers as they share insightful stories from their personal and professional lives, and how they're making a life-changing impact on those around them.

Our Speakers are;

Nigel Murray - Managing Director of Booths

Nigel joined Booths in 2015 having spent his career in food retailing with Safeway, Tetley, Asda and Greggs.  Booths is a family owned Northern Gem with 26 stores, 3 food manufacturing sites and 177 years of experience having started in Blackpool in 1847. 

Within Booths Nigel is a member of the Board and as M.D. he leads the Executive team. He is also a member of DEFRA’s Food & Drink Sector Council, and has recently been appointed Chair of the Food Resilience Industry Roundtable.  He is a Trustee of The Creative Health Trust UK, a Commissioner for Yorkshire’s Fix Our Food Commission and an Ambassador for Lancashire.

Born and bred in Blackburn, Nigel attended Manchester Polytechnic (Met) where he gained a B.A.(Hons) in Accounting & Finance followed by a Post Graduate Marketing Diploma and C.I.M. professional qualification in Marketing Management.  He is a proud Northerner and Lancastrian who has called North Yorkshire and Harrogate his home for the last 23 years.

He supports 4 different football teams and any other spare time is spent watching his son play football, enjoying food, but most of all cycling…. reading, watching, fixing, falling off, and sometimes, actually cycling!   In 2021 he completed the Tour de France route (21 stages) as one of a team of 18 amateur cyclists, (including fellow speaker Geoff Thomas MBE and our own K-Club co-founder, Matt Townsend) raising over £100,000 of the £1m total for the charity, Cure Leukaemia. This year he will ride the Tour de France ‘Etape du Tour’ in July and complete the Manchester Half Marathon in October.

In 2023 Booths committed to fund the creation of a specialist Blood Cancer Research Nurse position at Blackpool Teaching Hospital and by the end of this year will have raised over £350,000 in total for Cure Leukaemia.  

Nigel will talk about the Booths story, its history and background, through to its unique place in the market, sharing the 'how' and 'why' Booths exists. It's the people that make great businesses and communities, and we will hear about the impact Booths has made, as well as how they've done it. 

Geoff Thomas MBE - Patron of Cure Leukaemia

Ex-footballer Geoff played over 450 professional matches in a career that spanned 20 years, captaining Crystal Palace in arguably their greatest team and has since been recognised in their Centenary X1 as one of their best ever players. He represented England 9 times during his footballing career before retiring in 2002.

In 2003 Geoff was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukaemia (a form of blood cancer) and given just three months to live. After a stem cell transplant from his sister Kay and treatment from Professor Charlie Craddock CBE, the co-founder of blood cancer charity Cure Leukaemia, Geoff entered remission from the disease in January 2005.

Since his diagnosis he has taken on a number of cycling challenges, including the Giro D’Italia, Tour de France and La Vuelta (a day ahead of the professionals), to raise money and awareness about the disease, and helping to raise 10s of £millions for Cure Leukaemia along the way. In 2021, Geoff completed his final Tour de France challenge, ‘The Tour 21’ with Cure Leukaemia and a group of other keen cyclists, including fellow speaker Nigel Murray and K-Club co-founder Matt Townsend.

Geoff was awarded an MBE for his charitable contributions in 2021.

Geoff will cover his early years of getting into football, his professional career, achievements and learnings. Plus his incredible story and journey from Leukemia diagnosis onwards, devoting his life to raising funds & awareness, and what he's learned about survival against all odds, goal setting & achievements, and relationships & the power of bringing people together for a greater cause.

This is sure to be one powerful session!

A breakfast muffin comprising of Bacon & chilli jam or Avocado & tomato (V/VE option) and pastries will be served with tea & coffee. Please email amanda.manson@k-club.co.uk to indicate if you require a V/VE option or have any other special dietary requirements by Thursday 12th September.

Bookings close on THURSDAY 12th September at 6pm (or sooner if places sell out). A discount is available when 2 tickets are purchased together.