Mark Barclay
Biography
Mark has been a Non-Executive Director at the Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) Defence Business Services since January 2022 and a Non-Executive Member at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) since December 2024. From September 2025 to March 2026, he sat on the National Armaments Directorate (NAD) Group Transition Board. Prior to his non-executive roles, he had an extensive international career as a senior executive in global defence and aerospace organisations.
Mark began his career in 1980 with a four-year mechanical engineering apprenticeship with Barr & Stroud (now Thales) in Glasgow. He held various management roles within the company and joined the executive committee as Group Operations Director from 1996 to 2000. From 2000 to 2004 he was Chief Executive Officer of Racal/Thales Telecom Services before relocating to Toulouse as Managing Director of Thales’ Global Aerospace Services Division.
After returning to the UK in late 2007, Mark led Thales’ commercial and military aerospace business. He became Chief Operating Officer of Thales UK in early 2010 and later that year joined Airbus as Senior Vice President for four years. His responsibilities included oversight of all wing design, development and production activities, followed by overseeing a major supplier transformation programme based in the USA.
In August 2014, Mark joined Cobham PLC as President of the Mission Systems sector. In January 2018, he was appointed Chief Executive of the UK Defence Solutions Centre (UKDSC), an organisation jointly funded by UK government and industry partners, before retiring in July 2021.
In his spare time, Mark is a keen walker, cyclist and golfer; all of which support his voluntary charity work with Help for Heroes.
Non-Executive Chair, UKHO
The board’s role is to support and constructively challenge the executive committee and to apply scrutiny both in the development of business strategies, cases, plans and targets; and in assessing our success in delivering the approved corporate plan.