Tim Collins

Tim Collins was born in Belfast and educated in The Royal Belfast Academical Institution and Queen's University Belfast where he read Economics. He was commissioned into the Army in 1981 and joined the 2nd Battalion, Royal Irish Rangers then serving in Berlin.

After completing several operational tours of duty including Northern Ireland, the Falklands Islands and Cyprus, where he was an aide to the Chief of Staff in the UN in Cyprus, he served with 22 SAS including the first Gulf War and served as a staff officer for a short period in 1992 before attending the Army Command and Staff Course and gaining an MA.

He took part in numerous operations as the operations officer for 22 SAS for two years. He served in a variety of staff roles before returning to the now Royal Irish Regiment as a company commander based in Catterick. He was selected for promotion to Lieutenant Colonel at 38 and was posted to London in Dec 1998 once more to serve with special forces.

He assumed command of the 1st Battalion Royal Irish Regiment in Jan 2001. He led the battalion on operations in East Tyrone, and was subsequently awarded the Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service on the Fireman's strike and in Iraq during the last Gulf War.

During the 2nd Gulf War, Colonel Collins televised motivational speeches to his troops before battle inspired the nation as no other commander had done since the dark days of World War 2. Despite the heavy fighting around Basra he brought his unit home without the loss of a single soldier.

This was followed by the award of an OBE in 2003. After Promotion to Colonel he was Project Director for a Peace Support Training Centre in Sarajevo before taking up the appointment of Colonel in Charge of training in HQ Land Command in Dec 2003. He retired from the Army in 2004 and is now an author and broadcaster. He has recently published his first book 'Rules of Engagement', an account of his time in command.

Colonel Collins is a charismatic figure who is comfortable in a command situation. His grasp of modern management techniques is superb, drawing on his own experiences informed by previous military events, he shows how lessons learnt on the battlefield are just as relevant in the boardroom and beyond. There are very few who can equal him as a 'power' speaker and as a former British Army battalion commander (750 men) his motivational skills are unsurpassable.