DELT SHARED SERVICES - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Chief
• Project Officer

Gary joined Delt in Sep 2019 after a 38-year career in the Royal Navy, the last 10 in senior leadership roles. He has experience working in a range of organisations at various scales and in different countries around the world. He has captained ships, was the Deputy Naval Base Commander in Devonport and chaired the Board of Trustees for a local charity in Plymouth. Before joining Delt, Gary was Director of Sea Training for the Royal Navy of Oman.

Job Titles:

• Chief Executive Officer
• Executive Director
• Member of the Board

Husband, father, IT guy, magician, hypnotist, dragster driver: Giles came to Delt in January 2015 after a varied career that started in theatre and television but turned into management consultancy and IT leadership on both sides of the Atlantic. Giles has been CIO for the MoDs US operations, both Head of Transformation Communications and Change and Head of Solution Delivery for Babcock International. Giles lives in North Cornwall with one wife, two children, four and a bit rabbits, two dogs, at least three cats, a hamster, many chickens and an ever increasing zoo of other fluffy carbon based life forms that seem to turn up when he isn't looking. When not being passionate about delivering the opportunities presented by Delt, Giles is usually found building or repairing things, tinkering with his custom motorcycle or wondering what this new animal is that just jumped onto his bed. Giles came to Delt because of the opportunity to improve people's lives in the South West and show that a public interest company could do things better, faster and cheaper.

Job Titles:

• Chief People and Culture Officer

After being born in the UK and raised in Canada, Jane finally came to her senses and returned home to Cornwall in 2014. She has spent the last 15 years working in organisational development roles in both the private and public sector where she has overseen the development of a number of transformational talent management strategies that have led to engaging, inspiring and high performing cultures. Jane joined Delt in August 2017 and brings a passion and commitment to building collaborative working relationships that value and leverage the strengths of others. She is looking forward to contributing to the positive impact that Delt is having on the people of the South West. When not at Delt, she lives in Cornwall and loves to spend time with her family, walking the coastal path and exploring the South West.

Job Titles:

• Chief Financial Officer
• Executive Director
• Member of the Board of Directors

Originally from Northamptonshire, Karen moved to Devon in 2003 to be closer to friends and to live near the sea. Karen joined Delt in 2018. A finance professional with 30 years' experience in multiple sectors including Formula 1, manufacturing, and retail. She enjoys the challenge of the fast pace of change at Delt and gets a lot of satisfaction from helping people to do amazing things. When not working she is a fair-weather sailor and loves sailing around the South Coast with her husband. She also enjoys flower arranging and kick boxing at an amateur level.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Board
• Non - Executive Director

Lorna qualified as a nurse in 1982 at the Royal United Hospital School of Nursing, Bath and as a midwife in 1986 at the Peterborough School of Midwifery. She moved to Devon with her family in 1996 after returning from living and working in Canada for 10 years. She has experience in business management following the completion of an MBA at Exeter University in 2006. Lorna has worked across both NHS provider and commissioner organisations and, in July 2014, she became the Chief Nursing Officer for NHS Northern, Eastern and Western Devon CCG. In April 2019, Lorna took on the same role for the new pan Devon CCG. Lorna was elected onto the national NHS Clinical Commissioner board as the board nurse and chaired the NHS Clinical Commissioner nurse forum. Lorna was also the Caldicott Guardian for the two CCGs.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Board
• Non - Executive Chairman
• Non - Executive Director
• Corporate Finance Partner at Francis Clark

Mark is a Corporate Finance partner at Francis Clark, the largest firm of Chartered Accountants in the region. Mark founded the Corporate Finance team in 1995, and it has since grown to be the largest in the region and one of the most active outside London, wining many regional and national awards during this period. He is also responsible for the firm's international network and has recently organised a trade delegation to China as well as building strong links with Australian firms. Mark has more than 20 years of dedicated transaction experience and is highly regarded for his commercial approach and getting deals done. He has advised on many high profile deals such as the Management Buy Out of Sutton Seeds and Plessey Semi-Conductors. He also led the sale of Goonvean's clay operations to Imerys SA. He has a particular interest in consumer branded businesses, and advised on the sale of Dr Organic to Holland & Barrett. Mark is married to Claire, has two cats and is a keen traveller. He has been to many places around the world from South Africa to Norway and Japan to Alaska. He also managed to walk across Beirut in the relatively short period of peace the city enjoyed in 2005.

Job Titles:

• Chief Technical Officer

Originally from Wiltshire, Neil moved to Exmouth in 2021 with his wife and three children (and two dogs) having spent 20 years living and working in Manchester. The move to Devon was very much a lifestyle decision to allow his family to live, work and study in a greener environment which fits their outdoor lifestyle. When not supporting his children's extensive sporting endeavours he enjoys walking, watching rugby and escaping to the garden or his allotment. Neil's career has entirely been spent in IT, starting out in sales roles before transitioning over a 10-year period through solution focused roles into leadership positions focused on IT strategy. He has worked in both the private and public sector over the years working with a wide range of partners and customers. Neil is focused on really understanding and identifying how technology can be applied to drive transformation. He joined Delt as it gave the opportunity to join an organisation which is making a tangible difference at a local level, and which cares about and invests in its people.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Board
• Non - Executive Director

Eur Ing Nick Buckland OBE has a portfolio career. He chairs and is a member of a number of boards both locally and nationally, in the private, public and voluntary sectors. He lives in Cornwall where he owns and operates an organic livestock farm with his wife Debbie, In Plymouth he chairs three schools, the Theatre Royal, the Plymouth Waterfront Partnership and KARST (Plymouth's largest visual arts facility). He is also a Trustee of the Peninsula Medical Foundation and the Plymouth Marine Laboratory. He chairs an independent school in North Devon and an FE College in Hertfordshire. Nationally he chairs the Soil Association Certification Board, Future First (an education charity) and the Riverford Organics Trust. Nick is also the Deputy Chair of South West Water's WaterShare+ Panel and is a member of the GWR Advisory Board as well as Travel Watch SW. Having previously spent over 20 years in the IT industry, Nick is an acknowledged expert in strategic planning, audit, governance, review processes, quality and he has worked closely with many board and board committees. He was Deputy Chair of the South West Regional Development Agency and a founding member of the governing board of the Technology Strategy Board - the government's innovation agency. He was Pro Chancellor and former chair of Governors of University of Plymouth, one of the largest Universities in the UK and for five years was an External Member, Governance, of the Council of the National Trust. He holds a BSc in Mathematics from the University of Bath, is a Fellow of the British Computer Society, the Institute of Maths and it's Applications, the Royal Society of Arts, the Institute of Engineering and Technology and the Chartered Management Institute. He is a member of the Institute of Directors and the Royal Institution. He holds a Dip RSA, is a Chartered Engineer, Chartered Information Systems Practitioner, Chartered Manager and a European Engineer. He was appointed OBE in the 2009 New Year Honours List for services to Innovation & Technology and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Technology by Plymouth University in 2013. Nick and his wife have one son, three dogs, and five cats as well as numerous sheep, a herd of Ruby Red cattle and Gloucester Old Spot pigs. He is an avid fan of all forms of theatre and travel and enjoys cricket at Lords as a member of the MCC.

Job Titles:

• Chief Information Officer

Originally from North Wales, Paul moved down to Plympton in 1998 with his Cornish wife having spent ten years in the Royal Air Force. His family has since grown with two children and a dog which keep him very active, as well as his passion for playing football and sea kayaking (including fishing). His career has largely been spent in IT, starting out in technical roles before making the decision many years ago to move into IT leadership. Paul has worked in a number of industries in both the private and public sector over the years with responsibility for Infrastructure, Application, Client and Operations management. He prides himself on being a team player, helping people to develop, delivering positive outcomes for clients and continually challenging the "status quo" to improve. Paul joined Delt in July 2017 as it offered him an exciting opportunity to join a growing organisation where he could help the team achieve positive outcomes and make a real difference for people in the South West.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Board
• Non - Executive Director

Pete has been employed by Plymouth City Council for 15 years. He is currently responsibility for the design and delivery of the modernisation of ​the organisation as well as managing the IT and print and document management services provided to the Council by Delt. Pete has spent his career focused on delivering business change in a range of organisations and functions. Prior to joining the Council, Pete was a Senior Executive at Accenture UK/I, leading their customer relationship management practice for communications and high technology clients. Despite 30 years' experience in delivering change, Pete still feels there is a lot to be learned from Scott Adams Dilbert cartoons. Pete lives in Cornwall with his wife and 2 Greta Thunberg daughters. They chose to move to the South West because of the range of outdoor activities available, with paddle boarding and walking current favourites.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Board
• Staff Nominated Non - Executive Director

Rachel has worked as the Financial Accountant at Delt for just over five years. As a qualified chartered accountant (FCA) for nearly twenty years, Rachel has worked in in a variety of sectors including both the NHS and local government. She completed her chartered accountancy training at Mazars LLP which involved auditing a wide range of clients in the public and private sector. Having grown up near Plymouth, Rachel has lived and worked in various locations, including completing a volunteer role as an expedition accountant in Central America. However, Rachel returned ‘home' to Devon in 2018 and soon took up a position with Delt. In addition to her accounting experience, Rachel is a qualified teacher and spent several years as a lecturer in further education.