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Neil Laughton

Neil Laughton

A celebrated Royal Marine commando, helicopter pilot and SAS officer turned expedition leader and business entrepreneur

An award-winning entrepreneur, international conference speaker and record-breaking adventurer

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Bio

Full Bio

An award-winning entrepreneur, international conference speaker and record-breaking adventurer, Neil Laughton was awarded the Ness Award for ‘Inspirational Leadership” from the Royal Geographical Society. Having circumnavigated the UK on a jet ski and piloted a flying car across the Sahara Desert, Neil is no slouch when it comes to achieving the extraordinary. Teamwork, leadership, handling change, setting goals, coping with a challenge and getting through difficult times are all subject areas that Neil covers in his talks at private and corporate events.

Audiences lap up the words of wisdom from the business entrepreneur Laughton as he recounts his personal development from being a door-to-door salesman to the owner of a £40m company to being a business angel investor. He has spoken at events for organisations including Fitness First Accenture, Bank of England, British Airways, BT, Coca Cola, McKinsey & Co, Mercedes Benz, TEDx and Xerox. In between times, Laughton has set up the City Airways airline (trading as Brighton City Airport) and founded the Business Leadership Academy. Neil is currently Managing Director of Laughton & Co Ltd., Chairman of the Scientific Exploration Society and Captain of the England Penny Farthing Polo Team.

As an international speaker, Neil Laughton draws on his extensive experience as an adventurer, which has seen him organise and lead more than 50 expeditions around the world. However, insight can sometimes come from adversity as Laughton was part of the Everest-climbing team in 1996 that was hit by a fierce storm that took the lives of eight people and injured several others. Other exhilarating expeditions that Neil has been on include trekking solo across South Georgia in the Falkland Islands and an ill-fated attempt at the record for the ‘World’s Highest Dinner Party’ at 23,000 on Mount Everest in 1998 when his team were prevented by a devastating earthquake. In 2018, he returned and this time he succeeded.

The perfect after-dinner and entrepreneurship speaker, Neil is available to hire today via the Motivational Speakers Agency.

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Topics

Topics

  • Facing a Challenge & Goal Setting
  • Business Speaker
  • Change & Risk

Videos

Videos

Confessions of an Adventure-holic | Neil Laughton | TEDxBrighton
Introducing Neil Laughton, CEO of Laughton & Co

Books

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News

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The American Psychological Association was thrilled to have Dr. Antonia Novello as our speaker for the 2024 APA Convention. Dr. Novello was fantastic, and her presentation was a tremendous success. Thank you, Peter, for all your hard work in making this event such a resounding success.

American Psychological Association

For our annual Native American Heritage Month celebration, PDA Group arranged for John Echohawk to join us for a virtual moderated discussion. The program was thoughtful, engaging, and highly impactful for our audience of lawyers and professional staff. We are grateful for their partnership and look forward to working with them again.

Debevoise & Plimpton LLP

We have partnered with PDA Group on multiple successful events, including our charity luncheon with Lisa Edelstein and our Women’s Philanthropy Kickoff Event featuring Allegra Goodman. Their professionalism, expertise, and commitment to excellence make them an outstanding partner. Thank you for your exceptional work and continued support.

UJA-Federation

We have received so much fantastic feedback following our virtual event. It was an absolute success, and Sylvia Fowles was excellent. Thank you again to Sylvia and the entire team for your partnership!”

U.S. Bank

Kurt Warner was spectacular—he completely wowed the audience and solidified major leadership points. He was an amazing partner, and we will be talking about this experience for years to come. We will definitely leverage the PDA team for all of our speaking needs!”

Sysco Corporation

The events over the past two years went very well — everyone had a great time with Dr. Mark Esper in 2025, and Sam Hinkie led a very engaging Q&A with our Principal, Jean Reynolds, in 2024. Thank you for working with us these last two years; your support has been instrumental to the success of our programs!

Investcorp Strategic Capital Group

It was an absolute privilege to have Dr. Sanjay Gupta as our keynote speaker for the 2026 GME Leadership Conference. He delivered an outstanding address that resonated deeply and left a lasting impression on everyone in the room. The entire planning process was seamless and collaborative. It was a pleasure working together, brainstorming suggestions, and ultimately selecting the perfect fit for our event. We couldn’t have asked for a better experience.

HCA Healthcare

We had a fantastic day with Inge! She was very engaging with all those that attended. Her personal stories about the holocaust were very special and we were moved that she was willing to share them with everyone. Thank you again, PDA for all your hard work and dedication to make this program such a success!

Salt Lake Community College

It was a great pleasure to work with PDA Group! The communication was always prompt, friendly and helpful. We loved the speakers and events we booked through Mr. Peter Walker (PDA Group).

Western Michigan University

On behalf of myself and my organization Entertainment Unlimited the Campus Programming Board of Ferris State University, we thank you PDA and Dan for a successful event!! Dan was magnificent! Students really enjoyed the presentation. I know I did. Can’t wait to bring in more programs with PDA Group.

Ferris State University

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