Abingdon Days
Back in 2008, I was very fortunate to join an agency called Abingdon Management. The company primarily specialised in the management of motivational speakers and was a great learning experience for me and I had the opportunity to work with some really inspiring speakers.
I was only there for 3 years and Abingdon Management closed its doors a few years after I left and the owners focused on other areas of business. However, 15 years on from initially working there, I am still working with some of those same speakers – so whilst I am in a reminiscing mood, I just wanted to give a shout-out to these wonderful speakers….
Alan Chambers MBE is a Polar Explorer and an Inspirational, Motivational, and leadership speaker who led the first successful British unsupported expedition from Canada to the Geographic North Pole. In temperatures as low as low as -65°C his team walked 672 nautical miles. Dragging a sled with the weight of a baby elephant, and after 70 days on the ice, Alan and his team raised the Union Jack at the North Pole in May 2000. Not stopping there Alan has led over a dozen North Pole expeditions with top business leaders and chief executives.
Jim Lawless is a record-breaking freediver who was voted number 1 Motivational Speaker outside of the US in the Global Guru rankings and has inspired over a million people on five continents through his speeches alone.
As CEO of transformation innovators Symmetry, Jim Lawless is a leading architect of change and a trusted advisor to international organisations, fast-growth companies, and Olympic Teams.
As a speaker, Jim Lawless is loved internationally for his energy, humour, engagement, and his lasting impact on mindset and action. He leaves a new vocabulary behind that lives on in meetings and in thinking.
Caspar Berry is a Cambridge Educated, former Professional Poker Player and thought-provoking business speaker on Risk Taking & Decision Making. Playing poker was disciplining, testing, and demanding but also incredibly emotionally rewarding as he conquered the challenges it posed and made a living as a professional poker player at the tables of Las Vegas. At around this time, in 2005, the poker boom happened, and Caspar had already started speaking professionally so he moved to London to create a portfolio career as a trainer for the Mind Gym by day
Caspar Berry’s main speeches are based around Decision Making but the subject covers a whole range of ancillary subject areas such as risk, judgment, intuition and insight.
From Skiing to the South Pole to Yacht Racing round-the-world, Paula Reid has learned to develop the mindset to thrive and perform in the toughest of conditions. Paula draws on her extreme adventuring experience, extensive business acumen, and Masters in Applied Positive Psychology to help individuals and organisations survive, cope, and thrive in uncertain and challenging conditions. Her 120 adventures to date include becoming the 3rd British woman and 14th international woman to ski the 1000 km trek to the South Pole. So far only 300 people have successfully completed this journey through remote, freezing terrain.
Frank Dick is one of the UK’s most popular and respected inspirational and motivational speakers. A speaker on high performance, his speech on “mountain and valley people,” lives long in the memories of delegates after the event.
From 1979 to 1994 Frank was the British Athletics Federation’s Director of Coaching, where he was widely acknowledged as and remains one of the outstanding sports coaches and coach mentors in the world.
Marc Hogan is a Sales, Communications, and Motivational Speaker who was challenged to be a comedian and perform at the Edinburgh Festival within 12 months all to win a £1 bet.
A former sales & communications trainer, whilst giving a talk to a business audience, a fellow speaker challenged Marc to perform a 21-night, one-man comedy show at the world’s largest comedy event – the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
With over 14 years of experience in Sales and Communications, Marc’s Funny Business, S.A.L.E.S., and Inspirational Communication programmes have inspired audiences across the U.K. and Europe to seek out opportunities, tackle challenges & improve their communication and influencing skills.
Simon Weston CBE is an inspirational and motivational speaker who suffered 46% burns to his body when he was severely injured in the Falklands War in 1982.
His story was picked up in the documentary Simon’s War and was followed by millions of people across the UK. Simon has endured years of reconstructive surgery and has undergone over 70 operations and yet has an endearing positive spirit, that has made him one of the UK’s most respected and inspirational icons. His message is one of achievement, of triumph in the face of adversity, and of seizing the moment and succeeding.
Born into poverty on a tough council estate in Leeds, England, Richard McCann was placed on the “At-risk” register before he could walk and talk. Then, just one week before his sixth birthday, his mother was tragically taken from him when she became the first victim of a man who would go on to become one of Britain’s most notorious serial killers, Peter Sutcliffe.
What followed was foster parents, time in a care home, and then a deprived childhood living with his often violent and drunken father. Richard eventually left school with no qualifications and very little self-esteem. After stumbling from one mistake after another, he fell into petty crime and this led to a stint in the same prison as his mother’s killer! When he was released, he had few prospects and entered a suicide pact with one of his sisters.
It was at this point, Richard started to turn his life around and develop an ICan attitude and philosophy that led him to become a Sunday Times No1 Best Selling author whose first book, Just a Boy, made sales of almost half a million in the UK alone and was translated into more than 10 different languages.Richard McCann is now an internationally recognised professional speaker and has delivered over 2500 keynotes globally.
As always if we can ever help with an enquiry please email us at enquires@scampspeakers.co.uk