Helen Lederer is instantly recognisable as one of Britain's best known comedy character actresses. She is a multi talented professional whose work covers stand up comedy, comedy drama acting and TV radio presenting.

She is also known for her unique brand of wit and observational humour which are reflected in both her writing and presenting work.

Helen is a prolific comedy writer with a bulging portfolio. From the early days at the famous Comedy Store in London, to creating the 'girl at the bar' in BBCs Naked Video, not to mention becoming Catriona, the ditzy journalist in BBCs Absolutely Fabulous, Helen enjoys the unique position of having starred in most top TV comedy and Radio shows.

Treading the boards includes following hot on the heels of Julie Walters in Educating Rita, playing Doreen in Alan Bleasdale's Having a ball, and performing in The Vagina Monologues in 2002 at Londons West End. Helen is currently in development of a sitcom for BBC 2, a comedy novel, commissioned by Penguin and a number of TV projects.

She is a sought-after columnist and her work regularly appears in a stream of national press including Woman & Home, EVE, Independent Magazine, Mail on Sunday and Telegraph.

Helen's short stories have been published in the Daily Express, Girl's Night In (Harper Collins) and Big Night Out (Harper Collins).

Helen has been an Ambassador for the Princes Trust for the last ten years, recently hosting a celebration with his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales on stage together at Windsor Castle - televised for the BBC documentary

'Helen Lederer is one of the most popular and well travelled ambassadors the Princes Trust has ever had'
HRH quote made at Clarence House

She is very much in demand for after dinner speaking, reflecting on the vagaries of 'showbusiness' as well as conducting a wine workshop 'the show's off guide'.

Helen's interest in wine became so notorious, she was invited to be the wine columnist for Sunday Express Magazine as their 'Brilliant new wine writer'.

Her cutting edge, no nonsense approach to the pleasures of food and wine inspired several radio appearances (BBC Radio 4 The Wine Programme with Oz Clark) live champagne tasting on BBC Breakfast Television with Malcolm Gluck and at the BBC Food Fair in Birmingham demonstrating at the wine stand for Summerfield.

She was also invited to write and perform a comedy talk on wine at the International Wine and Spirits Fair before running a workshop 'The Show off's guide to wine for people who dont know much'.

She recently presented a celebrity wine tasting for 'Taste of Birmingham' week which was filmed for BBC. She spent several happy days at Michael Laroches vineyard in Chablis for OK magazine and has completed several wine courses one with the highly acclaimed Michael Schuster.

Helen will star in the world premiere of WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE by Greg Freeman and directed by Ninon Jerome. Its a sassy new comedy exploring animal food, animal sex and the fear of being devoured.

TESTIMONIALS

''Helen conjures up her comedic characters with the minimum of fuss''
William Cook, the Guardian

''Helen is often the first person to be asked for, when it comes to after dinner speaking. Her warmth wit and intelligence are just the ticket for putting people at their ease while entertaining them''
Annie Lycett, the Princes Trust

''Just a belated note to thank you once again for giving such a wonderful performance at the Aspire fund-raising lunch in Bushey. You pitched your talk perfectly for the audience and it was a great success for our coffers. I don't think I have ever seen an audience laugh along with a speaker so much. There was a genuine warmth in their reaction to you. I do hope that at some stage in the future you may be able to do it again for us''.
Peter Stanford, Chairman ASPIRE

''The speech was funny, insightful and inspiring. Whilst capturing the theme of the event, Helen also provided stimulus to each participant which encouraged them to reflect on where they were in life and how that impacted on the care they provided to others. Should the occasion arise I would willingly engage Helen as a future speaker for any of the range of events that I am involved in.''
Trish Morris-Thompson, North East London NHS

''I just wanted to say a big thank you to you for providing us with such great entertainment at our Conference - it was much appreciated by all''
Lekha Louda, The Association of Charity Shops

''I have received a great deal of positive feedback with guests thoroughly enjoying (Helen's) speech - it was extremely entertaining!''
Sarah Toomey, Swansea Business Woman of the Year Awards

''We would love Helen to come again in the Autumn and do a red wine tasting and dinner, we loved her company and everyone involved, felt the evening was great value and enjoyed it hugely''
Jacqui Figgis, Restauranteur

''She's one of the nicest people in the industry and I would jump at the chance to work with her again.''
Sue Andrews, producer ITV