Adam Paker is a respected leader, CEO, interim CEO and consultant, with a track record of rebuilding, restructuring, motivating and raising the bar on major sporting enterprises. He is currently consulting for a range of clients, in the UK and particularly in the Middle East, a region where he has a long-standing interest.
An Oxford University graduate, Adam spent the first 6 years of his career in investment banking, advising on cross-border mergers worth over $2bn and helping a leading British bank successfully to enter the Spanish market.
Sport has always been Adam's passion and in 2000 he moved into the sports industry after completing an MBA at INSEAD business school. He has worked in the sport, fitness and activity space ever since, assisting sports governing bodies, investors, sponsors, leagues, clubs, volunteers, charities and media groups, in the UK and internationally.
Adam’s love of sport is based on three convictions:
Excitement - sport’s ability to thrill us with its drama and passion is unique. Adam has helped to raise over $500m in sponsorship for - and deliver - some of the biggest sports events on earth, including the FIFA World Cup and the Commonwealth Games. He has helped to design and improve the pathways that create elite athletes.
Wellbeing - participation in sport, with all of its benefits, is crucial for us as individuals and as a society to enjoy happier, healthier and more productive lives. Adam has helped hundreds of thousands of people to gain or regain the sporting habit, in particular the vital life-skill of swimming.
Equality - sport has the power to create a better and fairer society. Adam is proud to be a trustee of Sporting Equals, which campaigns for greater BAME diversity in sport, and the Children’s Activities Association.
From 2017, Adam has led the turn-around of Swimming Nature, the UK's leading private swimming tuition company, whose fortunes he has revived through a process of consolidation and a bold new growth strategy.
Adam also undertakes a broad range of consulting projects, drawing on his knowledge of leadership; commerce and marketing; and sports finance. He is an Associate of Saje Impact, partnering with Andy Reed OBE, to advise sports governing bodies, clubs and individuals on community, strategic and commercial questions. He is currently assisting Portas Consulting on a high-profile project designed to increase participation in sports in Saudi Arabia, particularly among women.
Adam enjoys reflecting on topical affairs in sport and currently contributes an Expert Opinion column to iSportConnect, a leading forum for the sports industry. He is also one of the judges at Editorial Intelligence's Comment Awards, recognising the UK’s most influential print and online sports commentator of the year.
