Record-breaking adventurer talks about how Nottingham University Business School inspired him in his life and career

31 March 2015

Adrian Hayes is a truly extraordinary individual. He is a record-breaking polar explorer, extreme adventurer, motivational speaker, business coach, charity fundraiser, campaigner, author, and ambassador on worldwide economic, social and environmental sustainability.

Adrian’s sense of adventure was sparked at an early age from a childhood growing up around the New Forest. He started climbing in his teens and after leaving school at 16, spent six years travelling the world mountaineering and exploring whilst working intermittently in the UK, Norway and New Zealand as a builder’s labourer, bricklayer, farmer, refuse collector, and singer and guitarist in a rock band amongst others.

He served as a trooper with 21 Special Air Service Regiment for two years, qualifying as a Registered Emergency Medical Technician, before attending the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst and becoming a British Officer in the Brigade of Gurkhas, serving in Hong Kong and Brunei followed by a two year secondment to the Royal Army of Oman.

After leaving the Army, Adrian successfully completed an MBA at Nottingham University Business School in 1994 which was a catalyst for developing a highly successful career in business. He worked in various international sales and marketing managerial positions before joining Airbus as a Regional Sales Director for the Middle East and West Asia from 2000–2006, based first in Toulouse and subsequently the United Arab Emirates where he continues to live today.

Enthused by the Human Resources component of the MBA programme, Adrian set up his own company as a professional adventurer, speaker and business coach in 2007. Over the past 7 years, the company has worked with organisations across the globe, delivering team development workshops, leadership seminars, executive coaching and other programmes designed to motivate and inspire.

Adrian is passionate about people and continues to help individuals and organisations maximise their potential and performance not only through his speeches and personal development, leadership and coaching programmes, but by putting his philosophy into practice in his own record-breaking successes.

In 2007 Adrian set a Guinness World record for reaching the Earth's "3 Poles" - walking all the way to the North Pole, South Pole and summiting Mount Everest – all in just 19 months and three days, beating the previous record by five months and becoming one of only 18 people ever to achieve the feat. A significant amount of money was also raised for the international charities the Children’s Hope Foundation and the UAE based Friends of Cancer Patients.

He accomplished a second Guinness World record in 2009 for the Arctic’s longest unsupported kite-skiing journey to date, crossing the length of the Greenland ice cap alongside Canadians Devon McDiarmid and Derek Crowe. The voyage was the feature of a National Geographic Channel documentary.

In 2011 he led a 44 day 1600 km crossing of the Arabian Desert by foot and camel in the trail of renowned 1940s British explorer Sir Wilfred Thesiger. A documentary about the expedition was broadcast by the Discovery Channel in 2013 and Adrian also published ‘Footsteps of Thesiger’, a book based on his experiences.

In his attempts to push the limits of human endurance and inspire others to discover and fulfil their potential, Adrian has also suffered tragedy. In 2013, an attempt to scale the summit of K2, the world’s second highest mountain, had to be aborted when an avalanche wiped out one of the base camps killing two fellow climbers.

However, Adrian remains undaunted by the inherent perils of his adventures, taking encouragement from the knowledge that they inspire and motivate others to leave their own comfort zones and achieve things that might otherwise have seemed impossible.

Adrian is a lifetime follower of international affairs and an ambassador for numerous organisations and charities that support economic, social and environmental sustainability. He regularly speaks, writes and campaigns on issues he is passionate about including population, food and water security, climate change, global economics, cancer prevention, organic food, conflict resolution and happiness.

Being a dedicated father of two children, entrepreneur and serial adventurer leaves little room for leisure activities, but Adrian still manages to find time to compete in ironman triathlons, is a two-time UAE fitness challenge champion and a keen rock climber, runner, cyclist and swimmer. His interests span the range of personal and human development, sports, nutrition, science, medicine, film and music, and he still occasionally sings and plays guitar in a rock band.

For his inspirational example, tireless campaigning and charity work, and sheer determination to redefine the boundaries of human potential, Adrian was a worthy and deserving winner of the Univeristy of Nottingham’s 2014 Alumni Laureate Award for Special Excellence and collected his Award at the Winter Graduation Ceremony in December.

We took the opportunity of Adrian's visit to ask him about his life and career and the result is this inspirational video. Adrian, who resides in Dubai, will be returning to Nottingham in the summer to present the powerful story of his 2013 tragic failure and 2014 stunning success summiting the world's second highest mountain in ‘K2 - The Tragedy and the Triumph’ at the Lakeside Arts Centre on Thursday 25th June. Tickets are available online or at the Lakeside box office.