Ken Hames

summary

Following an impressive 25 year military career, Ken Hames has brought a unique slant to the many documentaries that he has created and presented for television.  Ken’s latest documentary, “Northern Ireland: A Soldiers’ Story” is a moving and honest account of ‘The Troubles’ told for the first time from the soldier’s perspective as Ken served four terms there. So was well positioned to talk about it first hand. The other television series is called ‘The Scots at War’ and saw Ken following the history of Scottish regiments culminating in The Black Watch in Afghanistan under fire during elections. Last year Ken made the highly acclaimed, BBC 1 documentary, ‘Ex Forces and Homeless’ where he spent nights out on the streets talking to ex military personnel to hear their stories.

biography

Ken is perhaps best known for creating and leading expeditions of disabled youngsters on the ground breaking ‘Beyond Boundaries’ series for BBC TV. This is now a successful brand with it’s own live event, bringing disabled people from all over the world together with their friends and families. Each series, Ken motivates and inspires people into making life changing journeys and achieving the seemingly impossible against all odds. The results of this flag ship series was shown in a moving account of what all the participants had been able to go on to do in ‘Beyond Boundaries – Where Are They Now’ where Ken caught up with them and found out what a life changing experience it had been for them.

Ken has created and presented series like, ‘Mission Africa’ - a 15 part series for primetime BBC1 where he took a group of apprentice builders from the UK to Kenya to build the first eco lodge and game reserve protecting the endangered species whilst handing over a sustainable business to the local community.

‘Desert Darlings’ (directed by Paul Watson) was broadcast on Channel 4 in spring 2003. Ken took couples across the Namib Desert, placing their sometimes fragile relationships under the extreme pressures of an expedition. His first series for Channel 4, was the award winning, ‘Jungle Janes’, where Ken’s challenge was to turn a group of British women, none of whom had any expedition experience, into a cohesive team fit enough to take on the gruelling jungles of Borneo.  It was enjoyed by millions who found this journey an inspiration. The first documentary was a television series, called ‘The Trek’ broadcast by Meridian.  In 1994, with the help of Diana, Princess of Wales, Ken was able to take twelve disadvantaged youngsters to the heart of Africa on a 500-mile trek over desert and mountainous terrain, the process transformed their lives and Ken still monitors their progress, twelve years on.

These documentaries have proved Ken’s extraordinary ability to inspire and motivate even the most unlikely candidates. His unique skills enable him to take any rabble of individuals and finish with a winning, cohesive team, using sound leadership and thorough training are just some of the tools he uses.  Ken is passionate about empowering people to transform their lives for the better.

Ken presented the highly praised series, ‘Greatest SAS Missions’ for Five in 2004, CBBC’s ‘Bring it On’, ‘Hero Factor’ for the Discovery Channel in 2002, ‘Battle Stripes’ for Sky in 2000, ‘Future Fighting Machines’ for the US in 2003, Channel 4’s ‘Shattered’ and ITV’s ‘Celebrity Fit Club’.  Ken was also involved from the earliest of stages in the design and development of ITV’s ‘I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here’.

Ken is a real life action man who leads from the front. He has 25 years military experience under his belt, and is almost unique in having served in The Parachute Brigade, the Royal Marines and the Special Air Service. Ken’s operational experience is vast, ranging from guarding Nazi war criminal Rudolph Hesse, in Spandau Prison to the liberation of Port Stanley in the Falklands.

He is an accomplished Mountain Guide and skier and represented Great Britain in cross-country skiing.  He played rugby for the Combined Services, is an expert in the great outdoors in all survival disciplines and is a keen amateur opera singer

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Testimonials

“I just wanted to say thank you very much for the session you did for us yesterday. Iwas very impressed with your ability to weave your story into our theme. I see a lot of speakers and I come across this talent very rarely. You usually get what ever pitch you have asked to be delivered. The fact that you made explicit connections was a tremendous added bonus for us. The presentation went down very well with the audience. We will certainly be rebooking you”.
Dominic Ward,
Development Manager HBOS

“On behalf of the entire Frankfurt organising team, I would like to take this opportunity to say an enormous THANK YOU for your inspirational Empowerment session.
Looking back at our early correspondence, you noted, “It looks like a very exciting event and we have a unique opportunity to make a significant impact on it.” ... and I believe we did.  The compliments for your presentation flowed in from the audience - some of whom managed to have a few words with you directly, but many, many who spoke to me afterwards felt massively inspired.  I know that the session was the main discussion point over lunch and dinner, with a surprising number admitting they had been very ‘moved’.  I really believe it enabled a fresh look at Empowerment for the GSK countries, with both personal and professional reflections abounding.”
“Your ‘GSK reflections’ also went down extremely well, people were really able to connect the messaging - they ‘got it’.  Thank you once again”.
Judith Teale, GlaxoSmithKline, Centre for Clinical Study Excellence, Europe & EMAP

Thank you for your fantastic presentation. The feedback was excellent. People will not forget ‘Lead, follow or get out of the way’
Martin Goodman, Office of the Director – IBM

Your speech was an inspiration to our audience. You have given IGF members a renewed sense of motivation and desire to succeed.
Paul Foulkes Director of Global Financing IBM

Ken’s motivational style lifts people’s horizons.  He was an absolute inspiration to our delegates.
Carole Nicholl, Director Lehman Brothers

Ken Hames is the master practitioner in the field of training and development.  He has the unique ability to inspire others to seek personal transformation and high achievement.
Diana, Princess of Wales

In his leadership master class Ken gave my senior managers a renewed sense of purpose and direction.  He is current, credible and inspirational and is particularly adept at getting results in a short timeframe.  I continue to use him to keep my leaders at the cutting edge.
Robert Ford CIO EMEA Microsoft Corporation

Ken inspired us all with his motivational conference programme and leadership master class.  We are looking forward to the next phase in our business development programme.
Simon Curry Director BT UK

Ken did a fantastic job for us and it was an inspiration to hear him talk and motivate our leadership team.  We look forward to his return.
Derek Hudson Vice President UK British Gas

Wherever Ken goes the atmosphere changes significantly.  He is able to get results and does this with credibility as someone who is still out there ‘doing it’ so to speak.  He has a unique understanding of the pressures facing business today and delivers solutions that will help managers do better.
Jerry Hagan Director GlaxoSmithKline

I give Ken 10 out of 10 for everything from how the audience reacted to the content of his talk. He really met our expectations and at the end of the presentation there was an audible ‘wow’ factor – it really hit the spot. Our clients really appreciated his enthusiasm for their project and the willingness to stay behind and become involved on an informal basis.
Chris Ball, Senior Partner, Penna PLC

Ken, Thank you so much for speaking at the Business Direct Forum, the feedback has been excellent. The Management team were really impressed and delighted. Your positioning was spot on and we were all grateful for the amount of time you took to understand our business and current challenges.
Vodaphone HQ, Management Meeting

Ken’s presentation style is enthusiastic, professional and friendly.  The audience were able to relate to the different experiences portrayed by Ken and at the same time managed to deliver/tie in with our themes of ‘team working’. He exceeded our expectations and we were delighted. Employees are still talking about how good it was and how inspired they ear; our problem for next year’s annual review is finding a motivational speaker who is as good as Ken and we’ve had many.
Grace Hughes,Business Development Director Burness LLP

Ken was down to earth and could connect with the young people as well as the support workers, teachers and general audience. He exceeded our expectations – in terms of motivation and enthusiasm. Ken was fantastic, just what we ordered in terms of a motivational speaker who could connect and inspire an audience.
Marie Greenhalgh University of Salford

Thank you for the most brilliant talk - you hit exactly the right note and a very cynical audience was totally enthralled.  They all found it very inspirational and motivational - and your messages about clarity and focus not obsession kept coming up throughout the rest of the day… a huge thank you.
Vanda Rumney
BBC Marketing, Communication & Audience Division

Your presentation and the messages you put across really did resonate with the audience, and provoked an emotional response as well as challenging people to think how they approach difficulties far less extreme than those you have worked with people to tackle. I know that your presentation was extremely well-received, as was the time you gave to listen to earlier presentations and then to spend time with delegates afterwards.
James Lowman Chief Executive
Association of convenience Shops

We have now come to the end of our series of leadership workshops held during March and April and as one of the guest speakers on the workshops I would just like to say thank you for your time in talking to us recently your session was extremely interesting and the feedback from our leaders has been very positive.
Nigel Cann Station Director, British Energy