Neil Hanson

For all speaker enquiries, please contact Alice Saunders on: +44 (0)20 7471 7900
In a long and very chequered career, among a bewildering variety of other jobs, Neil Hanson has been an Oxford graduate, a plasterer's mate, an ice cream salesman, a holiday camp redcoat and - simultaneously - an art critic and a rugby league commentator. He's edited the boozer's Bible - the Good Beer Guide - a job, he says, where it was practically a sacking offence not to go to the pub at lunchtime. He also ran, and later owned, Britain's highest inn, in a remote corner of the Yorkshire Dales, went round the world twice and worked as a print journalist and radio broadcaster in Britain, Australia and New Zealand. He is now a very successful author with over 60 published books to his name. As well as his own work, he's also a ghost writer for, among others, sports stars, showbiz legends, captains of industry, SAS men, pilots, a treasure diver, an explorer, a kidnap negotiator, an undercover investigator and a spy.
An award winning speaker, Neil has entertained audiences at every type of occasion - corporate events, conferences, festivals, luncheon clubs, dinners and banquets - throughout the UK and around the world. His after-dinner speech Inn & Out at the Top is a laugh-a-minute tour of the quirks and foibles, highs and lows of running Britain's highest inn - so isolated that its next-door neighbour was 4 miles away and so high above sea level that it had its own climate, with winds that could tear car-doors off their hinges, and winter snows that cut off the inn for weeks on end. A hugely engaging storyteller, Neil's account of his time at the inn, grappling with tight-fisted farmers, eccentric characters, bizarre local customs, naturist weekends, lates and lock-ins, police raids by appointment, rats in the attic, close encounters with magistrates and planners, and the shooting of a famous double glazing commercial, is suitable for all audiences.
Neil is a versatile speaker and a hugely engaging storyteller. The scope and range of his speeches, combined with his naturally entertaining delivery ensures a captivating experience for the audience. Often peppered with anecdotes about his ghostwriting clients Neil's speeches can be relied upon for humour, wit and a huge diversity of subject matter. Neil's naturally entrepreneurial spirit means he is able to advise on a wide range of topics, with charisma and style.
ThemesAdventure, Arts & Culture, Entertainment