William David Butler-Adams

Education and early life Butler-Adams was born in London, the last of four children of Rosalie, daughter of Major General William Pat Arthur Bradshaw and David Bernard Butler-Adams (b. 1939), a wine merchant. David's father was Derek Butler-Adams (1908–1996). David's mother was Beatrice Margaret Baker (1911–1994), the latter by whom William David Butler-Adams is related to Anglican priest Robin Griffith-Jones, cricket enthusiast Nigel Baker and British politician Peter Baker.

Butler-Adams was educated at Aysgarth School in Yorkshire He was awarded a first class Master of Engineering (MEng) degree in Mechanical engineering from Newcastle University in 1997.

Career He started his career as a project manager for Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) where he worked from 1997 to 2000 and continued as a Plant Manager for DuPont from 2000 to 2002. following a serendipitous meeting with the company's chairman, Tim Guinness, on a coach journey. Since 2002, Brompton has increased in size by an order of magnitude, from around 27 employees to over 200 employees while turnover has increased from around £2 million to £25 million.

Awards and honours Butler-Adams has been a member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (MIMechE) since 1993 and a Fellow (FIMechE) since 2014. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2024.

Will Butler-Adams (right) with the British Ambassador to Japan Tim Hitchens (left) in 2015.

Personal life Butler-Adams married Sarah Georgina MacIntyre in 2004 His recreations include aviation (he holds a private pilot licence) and wine (he has been a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Vintners since 2010).

Other recreations include travel and the environment: in 1995 he led a nine-week expedition up the Amazon River, which was the subject of a Channel 4 documentary and also led an expedition to summit of Aconcagua in 2000, which raised over £130,000 for charitable causes.