Our Next Event….
Tuesday, 6th March 2012
Speakers: Perry McCarthy aka”The Stig” & Lea Roberts
Members Tickets: £57 + VAT each
Non Members Tickets: £77 + VAT each
Our Subsequent Events in 2012
Wednesday, 30th May 2012
Tuesday, 25th September 2012
Monday, 3rd December 2012
Speaker Profiles
Perry McCarthy aka “The (original) Stig”
Perry is unique as an after-dinner speaker, for he combines his experience as a Formula One driver with becoming the original “Stig” (on BBC TV’s Top Gear) and delights and entertains audiences at home and abroad with highly amusing anecdotes or stimulating motivational speeches.
Born in London, Perry grew up to work for his father’s company – servicing oil rigs in the North Sea – but unlike most Formula One racing drivers, did not start racing in karts. Instead, he worked his way through the junior ranks of motor sport in Europe, including Formula Ford, Formula 3 and eventually F 3000.
Having tested for one Formula One team, his break came on the eve of the 1992 season when he signed for an independent team, but disorganisation and poor management led to him failing to qualify for any Grand Prix because he was frequently denied more than a handful of laps in which to prepare. The team subsequently folded before the end of the season and Perry was left without a drive.
He never raced in Formula One after 1992 but did test for both the Williams and Benetton teams later in the 1990s. After a brief retirement Perry returned to sports car racing, appearing at Le Mans in 2002. In the same year he released his autobiography, “Flat Out, Flat Broke”, in which he chronicled his endless search for backers and recognition in the quest to make it into Formula One. Indeed the Times called him ‘the world’s unluckiest racing driver’.
In October 2002 Perry appeared as “The (original) Stig” on the relaunched, revamped and now immensely popular BBC TV Show, ‘Top Gear’. Then sole presenter, Jeremy Clarkson and the show’s producer had created an anonymous character – “Stig” was a nickname for new boys at their old school – who was fully clad in black racing gear (subsequent stigs have appeared in white), including helmet, who tested high performance cars on the show and instructed celebrity drivers in the show’s regular feature, ‘Star in a Reasonably Priced Car’. Fiercely protective of The Stig’s identity, the BBC released Perry after 22 episodes and two series when he finally admitted, in a second edition of his autobiography in 2003, that he was the Stig, after earlier being ‘exposed’ by a Sunday newspaper.
These days, Perry is very much in demand as a corporate ambassador and after-dinner speaker all over the world.
Lea Roberts
Lea hails from a family steeped in sporting tradition and he himself has always had a keen interest in sport. Indeed, he played professional rugby league for Halifax, after a serious injury playing as an amateur had almost put paid to his sporting prospects. On any Top Table that includes Lea, the conversation will always turn to sport, not to mention his wide knowledge, and of course his passion for Halifax RLFC.
After his retirement from rugby league, Lea’s natural wit and warm personality took him into the world of stand-up comedy where his ability to make people laugh without causing offence brought him much success and notoriety, particularly on the northern circuit, over many years, until his big break…….
In 2002, having already finished runner-up in the 2001 “Batchelors Cup-A-Soup” Comedy Challenge, perfoming at London’s Comedy Store, Lea was voted the outright winner in the ITV talent show, “Stand Up Britain” which was screened live on ITV1. Two years later he was invited back by ITV to perform in “That’s Entertainment” – a big budget UV variety showcase. Since then, Lea has become one of the country’s most sought after comedians on the corporate, cabaret and sporting circuits,, with a well-earned reputation as an outstanding entertainer and raconteur.