Veteran explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes returned to MBNA’s headquarters in Chester to speak about his recent expedition – dubbed ‘the coldest journey on Earth’  – an attempt to cross Antarctica in winter.

During his visit Sir Ranulph took time to celebrate the success of MBNA’s ‘eXplore’ programme, recently crowned the UK’s Best

Employee Engagement Strategy at the Personnel Today Awards 2013.

Sir Ranulph, hailed as the world’s greatest living  explorer, has endorsed the programme and took  time to meet with MBNA’s Human Resources  team and a range of ‘eXplorers’ who have delivered the programme into the heart of the Chester-based business.

It was the second time Sir Ranulph has visited  MBNA, after meeting staff in 2012 just before  embarking on the trans-Antarctic winter expedition, and he spoke to a packed auditorium of  MBNA staff about the trek and shared stories  from his new book ‘Cold: Extreme Adventures at  the Lowest Temperatures on Earth’.

Gill Taylor, HR executive for MBNA, said: “Sir  Ranulph has been an inspiration to many of us. He  is a man who is prepared to stretch himself – often  to unbelievable extremes – to achieve his vision.  That takes real guts and determination, and his  story is such a compelling one.

“Sir Ranulph has been a backer of our  award-winning eXplore programme for some  time and we were delighted to hear about his latest  challenge, the obstacles he has had to overcome  and also to share some tales from his new book. It  was an absolute privilege to have him here at MBNA  again.”