Kevin Roberts, the global CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi, returned to Lancaster – where he grew up – to speak to undergraduate marketing and MBA students.

It was the first time that the former Lancaster Grammar School pupil, who earlier in his career was also chief executive of Pepsi Cola in Canada, had given a lecture to undergraduates at Lancaster University.

Mr Roberts said: “It was fantastic. There were around 40 students, 21 to 23 years old, mainly from Lancashire, wanting to make their way in marketing and advertising.

“We live in a time when ideas are everything, and these kids are just resplendent with ideas. They were very fresh and very optimistic.

“I was also speaking to independent entrepreneurs on the MBA course. Most of the growth we are going to see in Lancashire, especially where we are in Lancaster, is going to come from small companies, entrepreneurs, and we want to help them in giving them an idea. We live in the age of ideas and ideas are the currency of today.”

Mr Roberts teaches a major component of ‘The Mindful Manager’, a programme that forms a core element of the Lancaster MBA.

• Find out more about the Lancaster MBA
• Learn more about marketing at Lancaster University Management School