Keynote SpeakersNick English is a co-founder of Bremont Chronometers.
Founded with his brother Giles, Bremont originated from their joint lifetime love and passion for engineering and aviation.
The brothers inherited their love of watches, clocks and all things mechanical from an early age as they grew up in the workshop with their talented engineering father, Dr Euan English, a PHD student of Aeronautical Engineering from Cambridge. As an ex RAF pilot Euan also taught the brothers to fly and was active in the historic aircraft industry both flying and restoring historic aircraft.
All their lives changed on the 4th March 1995 as Nick and Euan were training for an air-show in their WWII Harvard. Whilst practising formation aerobatics they got stuck in an inverted spin from which they failed to recover and their aircraft was involved in a horrendous accident. Euan died and Nick broke over 30 bones. This accident was a tipping point in the brother’s lives and provided the impetus to follow their passion for watches.
After the accident, Nick and his brother ran the family aviation business, but in 2002 set about forming a watch company. The aim was clear; they wanted to bring some of their engineering experience to create classical aviation-inspired watches that could be used either in the boardroom or up Mount Everest. With no interest in quartz watches, the brothers only wanted to make very high-quality watches with the finest mechanical movements.
The name Bremont came from the late 1990s when Nick and his brother Giles were flying down through France in their 1930s bi-plane. They were forced to make an emergency landing due to a rough-running engine and bad weather. Keen to avoid the French authorities, the brothers were more than happy to accept the gracious help from the old farmer whose field they had landed in. They stayed with the farmer and were delighted to be shown his workshop and hear all of his flying tales. He too had flown aircraft (during the war) and was also a gifted engineer. Old wall clocks lay around the place in mid restoration together with numerous engine parts. The farmer still wore his own father’s wristwatch and the farmer’s name….. Antoine Bremont.
Bremont has become a huge success. Proud wearers of these special watches include the Olympian Sir Matthew Pinsent, actor Hugh Bonneville, actor and adventurer Charley Boorman, adventurer Bear Grylls, actor Ewan McGregor, Polar adventurer Ben Saunders and SAS: Who Dares Wins DS Jason Fox.
Bremont has been appointed official timekeeper at The Epsom Derby and the Boat Race, to name just two, and partnered with companies such as Jaguar and Norton. Military Squadrons all over the world continue to choose Bremont as their watchmaker of choice.
As a keynote speaker, Nick English tells the inspiring story of how along with his brother, they overcame tragedy to create a truly unique world-class brand.
