Keynote Speaker

Ant Middleton is best known for his role as the Chief Instructor in Channel 4’s SAS: Who Dares Wins, and as the bestselling author of First Man In: Leading from the Front. Having completed the ‘Holy Trinity’ of the UK’s Elite Forces, Ant now applies lessons from some of the toughest, most resilient, adaptable teams and leaders in the military to the business world.

After serving with the Royal Marines and 9 Parachute Squadron Royal Engineers Ant completed his military service with the Special Boat Service (SBS), sister unit of the SAS. Upon leaving the military he applied his Special Forces skills and experience to a career in personal security, working with VIPs and governments across the world. He also worked in creating SAS-style corporate experiences to help those in business to bond as teams and develop resilience by subjecting them to rigourous training and survival days.

Since then Ant has fronted a number of factual series for Channel 4. Whilst he is best known for Who Dares Wins, in which civilians are subjected to gruelling Special Forces selection and training processes, he has taken on other adventures for the broadcaster. In Mutiny, he captained a crew of 18 men on a 3,500 nautical mile voyage across the Pacific, recreating Captain William Bligh's arduous journey following The Mutiny on the Bounty in 1789. He has also led teams of engineers as they attempted to battle through extreme environments in Escape, and conquered the world’s highest peak for the series Extreme Everest.

Ant’s book, First Man In, is an autobiographical examination of leadership in the Special Forces and has become a business bestseller. It suggests that no one is born a leader, but through determination and confronting life’s challenges, one can learn the meaning of true leadership. As a former SBS point man, Ant was entrusted to the first man into any situation, no matter how unknown or potentially dangerous. He looks at how through planning, never giving up and trusting your colleagues, no challenge is insurmountable.