Chris Townsend

Experienced leadership speaker Chris Townsend is best known as one of the key faces behind the successful London 2012 Olympic Bid; encouraged by London Olympic Bid chairman Sir Keith Mills Townsend became the commercial director for the London Organisational Committee for the Olympic Games and has since gone on to become commercial director of a proposed £2 billion theme park in Southern England.

Before becoming a business speaker and becoming involved in the London 2012 Games Townsend had worked for Transport for London, he had been heavily involved in the branding London campaign, the implementation of the infamous Oyster Card system and was responsible for securing the various advertising and sponsorship contracts for the London Underground including an £800 million contract with Viacom which ran for eight years.

Townsend began working for some of the most impressive UK and global businesses straight out of university, after graduating with a distinction from Nottingham Trent with an Msc. Going on to work for EMI, BskyB, Telewest and DMB&B – one of the top five advertising firms in the world, Before working as an leadership speaker Townsend had dreamed of working in the music and entertainment industry and was inspired by his involvement with the British band The Cure during his time at university.

As a keynote speaker, Townsend draws upon his extensive knowledge as a businessman, his marketing and management strategies have propelled some of the biggest companies in the world into the limelight, garnering even more success and revenue; he has been responsible for contracts worth as much as £500 million and negotiated with some of the biggest global advertising firms. In 2013, Chris Townsend was awarded an OBE for his services to the Olympic Games and work as a leadership speaker, during his time at TFL Townsend became one of the most successful commercial directors working in London at the time. 

Chris Townsend OBE is an impressive leadership speaker, his success and experience speaks for itself, thanks to him Transport for London and the London 2012 Olympics were able to gather significant income and sponsorship all of which have gone on to further fund much needed public transport systems and youth sporting clubs and events. Townsend is proud of his contribution to the 2012 Games and speaks openly and frankly about the experience when he gives speeches as an after dinner speaker.