Mike served as the Director of the College of Management Technology, where he was responsible for the education of senior leadership, management, technical, commercial and language skills and nuclear propulsion, project management and acquisition training for Defence. Responsible for a budget of some £30M, he led the Defence partnerships with Cranfield University and Welbeck Sixth Form College.
An infantry officer, Mike has been on operations in Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Kosovo and Iraq. As the Battalion Commander of an armoured Infantry battalion, he led his Battalion on operations in Kosovo, shortly after the initial break in, and in Iraq, during the initial invasion in 2003. As a Brigade Commander, he was responsible for bringing the 37-year operation in Northern Ireland to a conclusion.
Mike has spent nearly ten years working in the Ministry of Defence in Whitehall, where latterly he was responsible for setting equipment investment priorities and requirements for much of the Army’s equipment and balancing a budget of some £17Bn over a ten-year timeframe. He also had a tour as the Military Assistant to the Chief of Defence Staff, which covered the period of the invasion of Kosovo and gave him real exposure to the political and diplomatic aspects of military operations.
Having retired from the Regular Army in 2014, Mike has just finished a 4-year tour as the Governor of Edinburgh Castle, representing senior Army interests in Scotland.
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