Justin Packshaw

{{Infobox person

| name = Justin Packshaw

| honorific_suffix = {{postnominals|size=100%|country=GBR|MBE|DL|FRGS}}

| image = Justin Packshaw MBE.jpg

| alt = photograph of Justin Packshaw

| caption =

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1965|03|13|df=yes}}

| birth_place = London, United Kingdom

| death_date =

| death_place =

| education = University of Edinburgh (MBA)

| occupation = {{hlist|Entrepreneur|philanthropist|adventurer}}

| spouse = Tamsin de Roemer

| parents =

| children = Lula & Blake

| website = {{URL|justinpackshaw.com}}

}}

Justin James Packshaw {{post-nominals|country=GBR|MBE|DL|FRGS}} (born 13 March 1965) is an English entrepreneur, philanthropist and adventurer.

Early life

Packshaw was born on 13 March 1965 in London.{{cite web|url=https://www.bjtonline.com/business-jet-news/justin-packshaw-0|title=Justin Packshaw|last=Phelps|first=Mark|date=September 2017|website=Business Jet Traveler|publisher=The Convention News|access-date=1 May 2021}} He was raised in Malta{{cite web|url=http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2018-01-30/local-news/From-boyhood-adventures-in-Senglea-to-leading-expeditions-to-the-four-corners-of-the-world-6736184150|title=From boyhood adventures in Senglea to leading expeditions to the four corners of the world|last=Grech|first=Helena|date=30 January 2018|website=The Malta Independent Online|access-date=1 May 2021}} where he attended St Edward's College before returning to the United Kingdom in 1975 to finish his schooling at Sandroyd School{{cite web|url=http://www.topukschool.cn/listings/sandroyd-school/?lang=en|title=Sandroyd School|website=TopUKSchool|access-date=1 May 2021|archive-date=8 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210208142946/http://www.topukschool.cn/listings/sandroyd-school/?lang=en|url-status=dead}} and Woolverstone Hall. He completed a Master's in Business Administration at the University of Edinburgh in 1993.{{cite magazine|date=May 2011|editor-last=Short|editor-first=Jane|title=Cool customer|url=https://www.business-school.ed.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2018-06/aluminate-may-2011.pdf|department=People|magazine=Aluminate|publisher=University of Edinburgh Business School|page=30|access-date=1 May 2021}}

Career

Packshaw served in the British Army for eight years, attending the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst{{Cite news|title=True Grit|work=The Times|url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/true-grit-9slzplxgb3v}} in 1985 before being commissioned into the 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards{{Cite news|title=UK team set out for Captain Scott Antarctic trek|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-20377807}} where he served in BAOR, Cyprus, Brunei and the first Gulf War. He was Equerry to HRH The Duchess of Kent in 1992. He is a director of De Roemer, a luxury jewellery brand he co-founded with his wife, Tamsin de Roemer, in 2008.{{cite web|url=https://www.connaught-village.co.uk/village-news/de-roemer-takes-the-south-pole/|title=De Roemer Takes The South Pole|website=Connaught Village|date=29 November 2017 }} He is also chairman of travel company Joro Experiences.{{cite web|url=https://joroexperiences.com/our-team/|title=Our Team|website=Joro|publisher=Joro Experiences|access-date=1 May 2021}} Packshaw also delivers talks worldwide to businesses, corporations and schools on topics around achievement, leadership, and adaptability, including a 2014 TEDx talk at the London School of Economics.{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/paypal/2014/08/26/how-tech-can-boost-your-ambition-to-change-the-world/|title=How Tech Can Boost Your Ambition To Change The World|last=O'Malley|first=Melissa|date=26 August 2014|website=Forbes|access-date=1 May 2021}}{{Cite web|title=Human Excellence|url=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VZuEHJUg9Yo&t=1s|website=Youtube| date=29 April 2014 }}{{better source needed|date=May 2021}}

Adventuring and expeditions

Packshaw participated in the 1989–1990 Whitbread Round the World Race, representing Great Britain. In 1996, he crossed Mongolia on horseback searching for the nomadic Dukha people, a small Tuvan (Tozhu Tuvans) Turkic community of reindeer herders. In 1999, he motorbiked across East Africa. In 2005, he won a 450-mile race to the North Pole and, in 2008, he helped guide 15-year-old Camilla Hempleman-Adams to ski the last degree to the Geographic North Pole. In 2011, he summited Mount Everest, helping to raise £130,000 for Walking with the Wounded, The Warrior Program, and Alzheimer's Research UK.{{cite web|url=https://www.vogue.co.uk/gallery/justin-packshaw-de-roemer-on-everest|title=Fashion on Everest|last=Milligan|first=Lauren|date=14 July 2011|website=Vogue|access-date=1 May 2021}} In 2012, the centenary of Captain Robert Falcon Scott's Terra Nova Expedition, he led a team including three wounded veterans to the South Pole to raise money for Walking with the Wounded.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20377807|title=UK team set out for Captain Scott Antarctic trek|date=17 November 2012|publisher=BBC News|access-date=1 May 2021}} In 2014, led an expedition across the coast of Nigeria from Cameroon to Benin via jet ski.{{cite web|url=https://www.cntraveller.com/gallery/adventure-holidays-for-men|title=MAN BREAKS|website=Condé Nast Traveller|date=11 September 2013 |publisher=Condé Nast Britain|access-date=1 May 2021}} That same year, Packshaw co-ordinated and led an expedition including two wounded veterans that followed the route of Sir Earnest Shackleton voyage of the James Caird from Antarctica to South Georgia to raise money for the Defence and National Rehabilitation Centre.{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/11262773/Wounded-Afghan-veterans-inspired-to-retrace-Shackletons-steps.html|title=Wounded Afghan veterans inspired to retrace Shackleton's steps|last=Rowley|first=Tom|date=30 November 2014|website=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=1 May 2021}} In 2015, he led a team of businessmen to the North Pole, raising more than £400,000 for The Prince's Trust,{{cite web|url=https://marcommnews.com/entrepreneurs-set-out-to-conquer-the-north-pole-for-the-princes-trust-charity/|title=Entrepreneurs Set Out to Conquer the North Pole for the Prince's Trust Charity|author=newsroom|date=30 March 2015|website=Marketing Communications News|access-date=1 May 2021}} and in 2017, he led a team to the South Pole that raised more than £685,000 for The Prince's Trust and the Roundhouse Trust.

In 2021 Packshaw led a 57-day research expedition of Antarctica.{{Cite news|date=6 December 2021|title=Nasa ice trek paves the way for mission to Mars|work=The Times|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/science/article/nasa-ice-trek-paves-the-way-for-mission-to-mars-d860766rd}} They started from Novolazarevskaya Station in Queen Maud Land and travelled through the interior 1,400 miles to the Geographic South Pole. With teammate Dr Jamie Facer-Childs the pair kite skied and man-hauled, unsupported across the ice. The team carried out research on climate change and also on human physiology and psychology{{citation needed|date=February 2022}} working in collaboration with NASA, ESA and Stanford University.

Honours and recognitions

Packshaw is a UK Ambassador for The Prince's Trust.{{cite web|url=https://www.princes-trust.org.uk/about-the-trust/celebrity-ambassadors/uk-ambassadors|title=UK Ambassadors|website=Prince's Trust|access-date=1 May 2021}} During the 2016 New Year Honours, he was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire 'for services to expeditions, youth development, and charity'.{{London Gazette|issue=61450|date=30 December 2015|page=N23|supp=y}} In July 2016, he was commissioned a Deputy Lieutenant of Greater London.,{{cite web|url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/2590160|title=Deputy Lieutenants' Commissions|date=9 August 2016|website=The Gazette|publisher=The Stationery Office|access-date=1 May 2021}}{{cite web|url=https://greaterlondonlieutenancy.com/about-us/our-people/deputy-lieutenants/|title=Deputy Lieutenants|website=Greater London Lieutenancy|access-date=1 May 2021}} and was awarded{{Cite web|title=Court of Alderman|url=https://democracy.cityoflondon.gov.uk/documents/g18776/Printed%20minutes%2006th-Feb-2018%2012.30%20Court%20of%20Aldermen.pdf?T=1}} the Freedom of the City of London in 2018. In 2021 Packshaw was given a Lifetime Achievement award by the British Ex-Forces in Business Awards.{{Cite news|date=2 December 2021|title=2021 Winners UK Awards|work=Exforces in Business|url=https://exforcesinbusiness.co.uk/2021-winners-uk-awards/}}