Lieutenant Colonel Nick Arding joined the Royal Marines in 1979, and in 1982 graduated from Lancaster University having read Physics on a University Cadetship. In 1983 he was appointed to 42 Commando Royal Marines as a troop commander. He completed his first operational tour in South Armagh for which he was awarded the General Officer Commanding, Northern Ireland’s Commendation. After a period as a recruit troop commander at the Commando Training Centre Royal Marines (CTCRM) he was trained as a Physical Training and Sports Officer.
Nick served as the Physical Training and Sports Officer at Britannia Royal Naval College until 1988 after which he spent 8 months instructing skiing and mountaineering at the Army Mountain Training Centre in Germany. He then trained as an Anti Tank Officer and spent a second tour of duty with 42 Commando Royal Marines, during which time he deployed to West Belfast as a Company Operations Officer. 1990 saw his appointment to the British Mountain Training Centre Norway as the Chief Instructor, after which he spent two and a half years at CTCRM as the Inspector of Physical Training. During this time he deployed on an operational tour to Bosnia as part of the Commander United Kingdom Task Group (COMUKTG) staff.
In 1995 having graduated with a BA in Defence Studies, Nick was appointed back to the staff of COMUKTG. Promotion followed in 1998 and he was to return to 42 Commando Royal Marines for a third time as Support Company Commander. He deployed to Northern Ireland again, where he was awarded the Queen’s Commendation for Valuable Service. He was then appointed to HMS FEARLESS where he spent two years as the Amphibious Operations Officer, with command of 4 Assault Squadron, before taking up the appointment of Regimental 2ic at the Commando Logistics Regiment Royal Marines in 2001.
After an operational deployment to Afghanistan in 2002 he then led the Royal Navy Everest West Ridge 2003 Expedition and as a result of which he was awarded the Royal Humane Society Bronze Medal. Between June 2003 and July 2005 he was the Commanding Officer at CTCRM. He was awarded the OBE in 2005. In September 2005 Nick took up a new career as a Teacher of Science in Ashburton, Devon.
Nick has been a keen mountaineer for the past 28 years, having climbed throughout the UK and Europe and further afield. In 1992 he was the 2ic of the British Annapurna IV Expedition and led his own team to Mt McKinlay in 1994 when he summited via the West Buttress. He gained his Mountaineering Instructor Certificate in 1993.
Nick can transfer his inspirational experiences and the powerful lessons learned from leading teams in extreme situations to the business world for organisations and individuals to maximise the return they get from training and development. Nick has the great ability of communicating his knowledge of leadership theory and its practical application in real world pressure situations such that it is relevant to the client experience of their own workplace.ding