A young Spencer Green (now 41) attended Millfield School before going on to study law at Kings College in London. He played rugby and tennis in his youth, representing Wales in the UK National Under-18 teams and also played Junior Wimbledon.

Spencer’s interest in business media began at at an early age and was consolidated at university, at which time he wrote multiple framework business titles and sold them on to a leading UK publisher.

In 1990, Spencer joined Sterling Publications as a Sales Executive, then Sales Manager, helping to launch and successfully sustain over ten business-to-business titles during his tenure.

GDS Publishing Ltd was founded in October 1993 by Spencer to specialise in industrial, government-led publications for the burgeoning Chinese market. The company launched over forty business-to-business titles, was name-checked alongside Tony Blair on China’s national news as ‘best for Chinese business’, and – following a move into India – deemed to be ‘of national importance’ by the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade.

In 1998, GDS Publishing became GDS International and launched its first conference, Enterprise China. The hugely successful Enterprise series of conferences was rolled out across China and Latin America in the next two years.

In 2000, GDS International launched its first Senior Executive Summit under the ‘Next Generation’ banner. This became the catalyst for ten years of rapid growth (GDS grew 40% in 2010). In 2011, GDS will hold over 70 Summits for C-level Executives from a wide range of industries and across the globe.

Today, GDS International is continuing onwards in determination to become the world’s no. 1 business-to-business events company. It’s been an exciting journey so far and long may it continue!