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David Williams
Chairman
David has a reputation for building companies in the public and private sectors and has chaired a large number of these, both in an executive and non-executive capacity.
In developing these companies he has raised in excess of £1 billion of capital to support organic and acquisition growth strategies. He was formerly chairman of Entertainment One Ltd. (LSE: ETO), Breedon Group plc (AIM: BREE) and Oxford Biodynamics Plc (AIM: OBD). David serves as the chairman of the Remuneration Committee and Nomination Committee and is a member of the Audit Committee.
Phil Higgins
Group Chief Executive Officer
Phil has over thirty years’ industry experience during which time he has been instrumental in the delivery of next generation technology solutions to many leading global FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 companies. Following a six-year secondment to the US as International Business Director for Info Products Europe (now SCC), Phil returned to the UK market in 2001.
After a brief spell at NSC Global and three years at Repton (now CDW), he co-founded Brookcourt Solutions in 2005. In December 2018, Phil joined the Board of Shearwater as an Executive Director, and in April 2019 was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Shearwater Group.
Jonathan Hall
Chief Financial Officer
Jon is an experienced Finance Leader. He qualified as an accountant with Arthur Andersen, before moving to PA Consulting Group, working as a management consultant specialising in Business Operations and Performance. Jon spent five years as the Finance Director at Saracens Rugby Club and the wider Premier Teams Holdings Group of which it was part. From there he moved into the world of esports, leading the IPO to make Gfinity plc the world’s first listed esports business in 2014. Jon served as a board director and Chief Financial Officer at Gfinity for 9 years. He joined Shearwater Group plc in August 2024 following a short interim role with MindGym plc.
Robin Southwell
Non-Executive Director
Robin has over thirty-five years’ experience of working in the aerospace and defence industry, including roles as Chief Executive Officer of Airbus UK and Airtanker Ltd, as well as senior positions at BAE Systems, which included running their operations in Australasia and establishing the company’s asset management organisation. Robin is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and has been appointed as a DTI Business Ambassador by the UK Government and received his OBE in 1997. Robin serves as a member of the Remuneration Committee.
Stephen Ball
Non-Executive Director
Stephen has over thirty-five years’ experience of working in senior roles in the technology, defence, information security and communications industries. Stephen was formerly Chief Executive Officer of Lockheed Martin UK until his retirement in 2016. Prior to this, he was Managing Director of the company’s operations in Ampthill, Bedfordshire.
Before joining Lockheed Martin, Stephen spent twenty-one years with HM Government Communications Centre (HMGCC), latterly as Chief Executive Officer, working on specialist development and the manufacture of security and communications equipment. Stephen serves as a member of the Nomination and Audit Committees.
Giles Willits
Non-Executive Director
Giles has more than 25 years’ experience in senior leadership and financial roles. Until June 2022 he was the financial officer of IG Design Group plc (AIM IGR).
Prior to this, Giles was also chief financial officer of the FTSE 250 listed Entertainment One Ltd (LSE: ETO), having worked with Entertainment One Ltd initially as a non-executive director before assuming the chief financial role in 2007. During his time at Entertainment One Ltd the market capitalisation grew to an excess of £1 billion. Giles was formally director of group finance of J Sainsbury plc and Woolworths Group plc.
Rt Hon. the Lord Reid of Cardowan
Advisory Panel Chairman
Lord Reid joined the Company as Chairman of its Advisory Panel in January 2017. Lord Reid has had an illustrious career in UK Government, serving in numerous UK cabinet positions, including Home Secretary and Secretary of State for Defence. He now sits in the House of Lords and is Executive Chairman of the Institute for Strategy, Resilience and Security at University College London.
Marcus Willett CB OBE
Advisory Panel Member
Marcus joined the Company as a Member of its Advisory Panel in April 2019. Marcus was formerly the Deputy Head of GCHQ, having served 33 years with the organisation. He was also GCHQ’s first Cyber Director and has established and led major UK Cyber Programmes. Marcus also held posts across the wider UK intelligence and security community, and is currently the Senior Advisor for Cyber at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a world-leading authority on global security, political risk and military conflict.
Phil Higgins
CEO of Shearwater Group plc and Brookcourt Solutions
Phil has over thirty years’ industry experience during which time he has been instrumental in the delivery of next generation technology solutions to many leading global FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 companies. Following a six-year secondment to the US as International Business Director for Info Products Europe (now SCC), Phil returned to the UK market in 2001.
After a brief spell at NSC Global and three years at Repton (now CDW), he co-founded Brookcourt Solutions in 2005. In December 2018, Phil joined the Board of Shearwater as an Executive Director, and in April 2019 was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Shearwater Group.
Jonathan Hall
Chief Financial Officer
Jon is an experienced Finance Leader. He qualified as an accountant with Arthur Andersen, before moving to PA Consulting Group, working as a management consultant specialising in Business Operations and Performance. Jon spent five years as the Finance Director at Saracens Rugby Club and the wider Premier Teams Holdings Group of which it was part. From there he moved into the world of esports, leading the IPO to make Gfinity plc the world’s first listed esports business in 2014. Jon served as a board director and Chief Financial Officer at Gfinity for 9 years. He joined Shearwater Group plc in August 2024 following a short interim role with MindGym plc.
Carmen Andriolas
Legal Counsel for Shearwater Group plc
Following her work as a professional indemnity litigation advisor, Carmen joined Shearwater Group to fulfil her longstanding interest to work in the IT sector and intellectual property. Carmen is a solicitor qualified in the UK and Australia.
She has comprehensive experience delivering legal guidance to the group for the effective risk-focussed commercial management of business activities. Carmen has broad experience across many legal and business topics including commercial negotiations, operational resilience needs, intellectual property, litigation, and data protection principles.
Sally Humphrey
Director, Human Resources
Sally has worked in an HR leadership role for more than 20 years and spent a significant part of her career working in clinical research and pharmaceuticals, leading a global team across multiple HR discipline, in Europe, the US and Asia.
Sally has worked extensively within mergers and acquisitions and has led large-scale integrations. She is passionate about implementing effective performance management, reward and recognition strategies that increase productivity and engage teams. Sally established her own company in 2012 and joined the Shearwater Group in 2019.
Lindsey Domingo
Senior Director, Xcina Consulting
Lindsey Domingo is the Group Data Protection Officer for Shearwater Group plc and a Senior Director at Xcina Consulting. He has 30 years’ experience in governance, risk and compliance advisory roles based in the UK, continental Europe and emerging markets.
Lindsey is a Chartered Accountant and Certified Information Systems Auditor, and holds further qualifications in Data Protection, Governance, Risk & Compliance, Executive Coaching & Mentoring, as well as Project Management.
He trained and qualified with PwC and was a partner at PwC and EY. He has led risk and assurance advisory, regulatory and change projects across financial, industrial and services sectors, and managed entire markets, with responsibility for operations management, developing teams, growing the practice, business development and programme/project delivery.
Phillip Underwood
CIO of SecurEnvoy
Phillip has worked with leading Security vendors over the last 20 years and throughout his career has implemented large-scale security deployments, becoming a trusted security advisor for many major corporations. His wide-ranging skills have allowed him to educate and demonstrate new technology and techniques, in defending against Internet security threats.
With a passion for systems engineering, Phillip has provided direct input and ledon new developments as well as product direction at SecurEnvoy, culminating in its new converged security cloud platform. Phillip has been with SecurEnvoy a total of 12 years, after joining as the first Technical Lead and was key in the design and build of SecurEnvoy software, which is now in use with over 1100 customers in 36 countries.
Adam Bruce
CRO of SecurEnvoy
Adam’s career spans over twenty five years, starting with a technical specialisation in Networking and Security. This start provided a sound technical understanding of Cyber Security and gave the foundation for twenty years in commercial sales. Adam’s experience includes over seven years operating within a high-profile Cyber Security VAR, working with household names across a wide range of sectors.
Adam joined SecurEnvoy in 2005, as the first sales hire, with a hand in both End User Sales and Channel Development. The eighteen year SecurEnvoy journey has resulted in Adam successfully building out and leading the commercial operations and strategy. He has risen through many roles within the business at SecurEnvoy, culminating as Chief Revenue Officer.
Paul Harris
MD of Pentest
Paul has over twenty years’ boardroom experience in both leading-edge, fast moving technology enterprises and FTSE 100 global brands. With a career spanning a broad range of technology disciplines, Paul has consistently focussed on elements of Infosec from Offensive Security Testing and Industrial Control Systems, to Firmware, Software & SaaS, Data Centres, Hosting and IT infrastructure.
Paul was the Managing Director of Secarma in 2018 and joined the Group following its acquisition of its penetration testing assets. Previously, he co-founded and directed BrightHR, a cloud-based SaaS Human Resources service for SMEs, and was a Director with Sage Group plc and UKFast.