William Ward awarded OBE

Co-founder and chief executive of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, William Ward, has been awarded with an OBE in the Queen’s 2018 New Year’s Honours List.

Mr Ward received the OBE for his services to the economy and to the GREAT Britain campaign.
“As a proud Briton, I am incredibly humbled to be recognised in this way. It feels quite overwhelming to be honest,” he said.

“I take enormous pride in the growth the Clipper Race has made since 1995 when my business partner Sir Robin Knox-Johnston and I first set out together.

“It’s always been a brilliant event for sailors and all those who possess an adventurous streak, but it’s also become increasingly important to our partners who have shared our vision and of course made our growth possible.

Ambassador
And he explained how the GREAT Britain campaign, which he is an ambassador for, has worked with British Consuls in fifteen different destinations around the world over the last three editions of the Clipper race.

These include London, Rio, Cape Town, Sydney, Beijing, Singapore, Da Nang, Seattle, San Francisco, Panama and New York.

“The GREAT Britain partnership is just one example of hundreds of different business partners and international destinations we’ve worked with over our past 21 years’ in operation,” he said.
“It has been a fantastic journey so far and one which I’ve taken enormous satisfaction in seeing go from strength to strength and I remain equally excited to see where it takes us over future decades.”