Will Greenwood – Keynote Speaker

Will Greenwood is not one to shy away from high pressure, highly competitive situations. Having started working life on London’s City trading floor he went on to become the second highest try scorer in English rugby history, (Jonny May crept past him in 2021, Will relegated to third) and helped power England to victory at the Rugby World Cup in 2003.

He is widely regarded as one of England’s greatest ever rugby players, as well as one of the sport’s most engaging, intelligent and entertaining characters. Greenwood made his debut in 1994 for Harlequins, before progressing to Leicester in 1996 from where he was handed his full England international debut in 1997.

Injury marred his first couple of years in International rugby but the 2000/01 season saw him establish himself as an England regular under the tutelage of Clive Woodward and accolades swiftly followed. He won three man-of-the-match performances in one Six Nations alone, in victories over Scotland, Wales and Italy in 2002. Selected for England’s World Cup winning squad in 2003, Greenwood finished the tournament joint top try scorer with five to his name. In 2005, in the culmination of an outstanding career, he picked up his first Test caps for the British & Irish Lions in the 2005 tour of New Zealand.

In total he toured 3 times with Lions, in 1997, 2001 and 2005. Throughout his 11 years playing professional rugby, Will Greenwood was a dedicated professional combining a fantastic work ethic with a desire to continuously learn and improve his game. Despite injury setbacks and occasional moments of self-doubt and personal tragedy his focus, determination and perseverance led him to the top of the national and international game. Off pitch his focus has remained undimmed. With a reputation as a bright and articulate and personality he was snapped up by Sky as a regular match day presenter, working for them for 16 years. During that time Will drove the hugely popular ‘School of Hard Knocks’.

The series gave at risk youngsters the chance to train, grow and shine through sport. Alongside this he pens a weekly opinion column for the Saturday Telegraph, 17 years now, and is a dedicated supporter of the premature birth charity Borne. Will is also a successful businessman in his own right, having set up Legend Holidays & Events, a company providing family holiday experiences, corporate events. In September 2016, Will combined his knowledge of numbers and working with children to take up a voluntary role as a part-time maths teacher in a secondary school in Berkshire for five years.

In November 2020, Will took up the position as Chief Customer Officer at data and software company Afiniti. Will Greenwood is Chief Customer Officer in the UK at Afiniti, an artificial intelligence company that helps organisations use data and AI to have better conversations with their customers.

He brings with him knowledge and expertise on the following themes:

• Leadership: Vision, environment, removing obstructions;

• Trust/Team-ship: Unity, standards, spirit, culture;

• Attitude/Confidence: Greatness is achieved through the discipline of attention to detail;

• Responsibility: TCUP (Think Correctly Under Pressure);

• Believe: Remove luck • Change management: From Good to Great