Justin James Packshaw (born 13 March 1965) is an English entrepreneur, philanthropist and adventurer.

Early life

Packshaw was born on 13 March 1965 in London. He was raised in

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

where he attended St Edwards College before returning to the United Kingdom in 1975 to finish his schooling at Sandroyd School and Woolverstone Hall. He completed a Master's in Business Administration at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

in 1993.

Career

Packshaw served in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...

for eight years, attending the

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academy, military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial Commissioned officer, officer train ...

in 1985 before being commissioned into the

4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards The 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards was a cavalry regiment of the British Army formed in 1922. It served in the Second World War. However following the reduction of forces at the end of the Cold War and proposals contained in the Options for Change ...

where he served in

BAOR There have been two formations named British Army of the Rhine (BAOR). Both were originally occupation forces in Germany, one after the First World War and the other after the Second World War. Both formations had areas of responsibility located a ...

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...

Brunei Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely sur ...

and the first

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...

. 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. He is also chairman of travel company Joro Experienes. 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 , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 mill ...

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 East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the histori ...

. In 2005, he won a 450-mile race to the

North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...

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 Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow ...

, helping to raise £130,000 for

Walking with the Wounded Walking With The Wounded (WWTW) is a British charity to help injured former British Armed Forces The British Armed Forces, also known as His Majesty's Armed Forces, are the military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, ...

, The Warrior Program, and Alzheimer's Research UK. 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 The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole, Terrestrial South Pole or 90th Parallel South, is one of the two points where Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on Earth and lies antipod ...

to raise money for Walking with the Wounded. In 2014, led an expedition across the coast of Nigeria from Cameroon to Benin via jet ski. That same year, Packshaw co-ordinated and led an expedition including two wounded veterans that followed the route of

Sir Earnest Shackleton ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

voyage of the ''James Caird'' from

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest co ...

South Georgia South Georgia ( es, Isla San Pedro) is an island in the South Atlantic Ocean that is part of the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. It lies around east of the Falkland Islands. Stretching in the east ...

to raise money for the

Defence and National Rehabilitation Centre Stanford Hall is a grade II* listed 18th-century English country house in Nottinghamshire, England, in Stanford on Soar just north of Loughborough. It is home to the Defence and National Rehabilitation Centre (DNRC). History The manor of Stan ...

. In 2015, he led a team of businessmen to the North Pole, raising more than £400,000 for The Prince's Trust, and in 2017, he led a team to the

that raised more than £685,000 for The Prince's Trust and the

Roundhouse Trust The Roundhouse is a performing arts and concert venue situated at the Grade II* listed former railway engine shed in Chalk Farm, London, England. The building was erected in 1846–1847 by the London & North Western Railway as a roundhouse, ...

. In 2021 Packshaw led a 57-day research expedition of

. The 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 working in collaboration with

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedi ...

ESA , owners = , headquarters = Paris, Île-de-France, France , coordinates = , spaceport = Guiana Space Centre , seal = File:ESA emblem seal.png , seal_size = 130px , image = Views in the Main Control Room (1 ...

and Stanford University.

Honours and recognitions

Packshaw is a UK Ambassador for The Prince's Trust. During the 2016 New Year Honours, he was made a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

'for services to expeditions, youth development, and charity'. In July 2016, he was commissioned a Deputy Lieutenant of Greater London., and was awarded 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 British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Packshaw, Justin Living people 1965 births Alumni of the University of Edinburgh English explorers Explorers of the Arctic English philanthropists British Army personnel of the Gulf War English male sailors (sport) English motivational speakers British summiters of Mount Everest Members of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Sandroyd School Deputy Lieutenants of Greater London Volvo Ocean Race sailors 20th-century British philanthropists