A masterclass linking murder mysteries to business risk is among the standout sessions at this year’s York Business Festival.

Taking place at York St John University on Thursday, October 15, the talk is led by Morgan Philips, CEO of Helmsdale Consultancy in York, and will explore the parallels between plotting a crime novel and managing technology risk.

Mr Philips said: "The talk’s called ‘How to Commit the Perfect Business Crime: A Masterclass,’ and I’ll be teaming up with the brilliant and slightly bonkers Stevyn Colgan, author, ex-Met Police, folklorist, raconteur, and all-round eccentric.

"We’re taking a sideways look at business risk analysis by treating it like writing a murder mystery.

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"Think of it as reverse-engineering the perfect crime scene, except the crime is a business disaster waiting to happen."

The session will examine the conditions that enable risk, the influence of human behaviour, and whether it’s possible to change the outcome before a problem unfolds.

Mr Philips said: "Writing a murder mystery is a lot like running a business: if you don’t uncover the hidden motives, you’ll end up the victim of someone else’s nefarious scheme.

"Remember, in business risk, like in crime novels, it’s always the quiet process failure and unfortunate coincidence that did it, not the butler."

Another highlight on the same day is a workshop from Sarah Cave of The Leadership Secret, a Harrogate-based leadership development agency.

Ms Cave said: "The Leadership Secret is a leadership coaching consultancy that I founded in 2024.

"It’s built on my 32 years of experience coaching leaders in some of the worlds biggest and most successful organisations—working with senior leaders from Google YouTube are stand out moments for me.

"My session will be a workshop which uncovers the secret of great leadership.

"Everyone has a leadership superpower, but often we don’t know what it is."

Attendees will complete The Top Half assessment during the session to help identify their personal leadership strengths and learn how to apply them in the workplace.

Ms Cave said: "So participants will complete The Top Half assessment to identify their Leadership Secret and then receive tips on how to leverage this to get the best from their people and drive bottom line results.

"The workshop will be interactive, lively, fun and practical."

She will also introduce a newly launched AI Leadership Coaching service.

Ms Cave said: "It’s a funky tool which means that if a leader wakes up at 3am with a worry they can talk to the AI version of me and get a way forward—and hopefully go back to sleep.

"It’s easy, accessible, low cost and high value.

"Everyone who comes to the talk will get a month’s free access to the tool."

Tickets and further details are available at https://www.yorksj.ac.uk/events/york-business-festival/.