Will Butler-Adams

William David Butler-Adams (born 11 May 1974 in London)[1] OBE[2] FRGS is the managing director of Brompton Bicycle Limited[3][4][5][6] a manufacturer based in the United Kingdom[7] and Brompton Bike Hire Limited[5] a provider of bicycle-sharing systems.[8][9]

Will Butler-Adams
OBE, FRGS
BornWilliam David Butler-Adams
(1974-05-11) 11 May 1974[1]
London 
Alma materNewcastle University
Spouse(s)
Sarah Georgina MacIntyre
​
​
(m. 2004)​
ChildrenThree daughters[1]
Websitetwitter.com/will_brompton

Education and early life

Butler-Adams was born in London, the last of four children of Rosalie, daughter of Major General William Pat Arthur Bradshaw and David Bernard Butler-Adams (b. 1939), a wine merchant. David's father was Derek Butler-Adams (1908–1996). David's mother was Beatrice Margaret Baker (1911–1994), the latter by whom William David Butler-Adams is related to Anglican priest Robin Griffith-Jones, cricket enthusiast Nigel Baker and British politician Peter Baker.[10]

Butler-Adams was educated at Aysgarth School in Yorkshire[1] and Rugby School from 1987 to 1992 in Warwickshire.[11] He was awarded a first class Master of Engineering (MEng) degree in Mechanical engineering from Newcastle University in 1997.[1] During his degree he studied the Spanish language at the University of Valladolid in Spain.[12]

Career

He started his career as a project manager for Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) where he worked from 1997 to 2000 and continued as a Plant Manager for DuPont from 2000 to 2002.[1] He joined Brompton at the age of 28,[13] following a serendipitous meeting with the company's chairman, Tim Guinness, on a coach journey.[14]

At Brompton, he was promoted to director in 2006 and managing director (aka CEO) in 2008.[14] Since 2002, Brompton has increased in size by an order of magnitude, from around 27 employees to over 200 employees while turnover has increased from around £2 million to £25 million.[14][15] As of 2016 he serves as a commissioner on the UK Commission for Employment and Skills.[15][16][17]

Awards and honours

Butler-Adams has been a member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (MIMechE) since 1993 and a Fellow (FIMechE) since 2014.[1] He qualified as a Chartered Engineer (CEng) in 2001[1] and has been a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society since 2013.[1] He was appointed Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2015 New Year Honours.[2]

Will Butler-Adams (right) with the British Ambassador to Japan Tim Hitchens (left) in 2015.

Personal life

Butler-Adams married Sarah Georgina MacIntyre in 2004[1] and has three daughters.[18] His recreations include aviation (he holds a private pilot licence) and wine (he has been a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Vintners since 2010).[1]

Other recreations include travel and the environment: in 1995 he led a nine-week expedition up the Amazon River, which was the subject of a Channel 4 documentary and also led an expedition to summit of Aconcagua in 2000, which raised over £130,000 for charitable causes.[1]

References
  1. "BUTLER-ADAMS, William David". Who's Who. ukwhoswho.com. 2015 (online Oxford University Press ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. (subscription or UK public library membership required) (subscription required)
  2. "No. 61092". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2014. p. N10.
  3. Shaw, Dougal (2016). "CEO Secrets: Brompton Bikes' boss shares business tips". London: BBC. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016.
  4. "William BUTLER ADAMS, born May 1974". London: Companies House, Government of the United Kingdom. Archived from the original on 12 July 2016.
  5. "William David BUTLER-ADAMS". London: Companies House, Government of the United Kingdom. Archived from the original on 12 July 2016.
  6. Dugdale, Addy (2010). "Interview: Will Butler-Adams, CEO of Brompton Bikes". Fast Company. New York. Archived from the original on 10 July 2015.
  7. Will Butler Adams explains which bits of the Brompton bike are made in Britain on YouTube, published by the Made in Britain Campaign
  8. Will Butler-Adams on Twitter
  9. An interview with Will Butler-Adams, CEO of Brompton Bicycles on YouTube, published by PricewaterhouseCoopers
  10. thepeerage.com
  11. Anon (2015). "Business Forum with Will Butler-Adams". rugbyschool.co.uk. Rugby: Rugby School. Archived from the original on 13 July 2016.
  12. Cummins, Kate (2011). "Brompton managing director Will Butler-Adams". theengineer.co.uk. London: The Engineer. Archived from the original on 13 July 2016.
  13. Hughes-Penney, Robert (2015). "An Interview with Will Butler-Adams: Cycles of success". rathbones.com. London: Rathbone Brothers. Archived from the original on 12 July 2016.
  14. Smale, Will (2013). "Brompton boss: The bike-maker who disproved the doubters". London: BBC. Archived from the original on 8 March 2016.
  15. "Will Butler-Adams OBE". London: Government of the United Kingdom. Archived from the original on 11 July 2016.
  16. LSBF Great Minds Series: Will Butler-Adams from Brompton Bicycle on YouTube, published by the London School of Business and Finance
  17. The story behind Brompton Bicycles, Will Butler-Adams on YouTube, published by Good Person To Know (GPTK)
  18. Urwin, Rosamund (2015). "Brompton CEO Will Butler-Adams on why the future of the foldable bike is electric". London Evening Standard. London. Archived from the original on 1 January 2016.
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