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Simon Parkes joined the Education Funding Agency (EFA) as Director, Finance and Maintained Schools in August 2012, before becoming Chief Financial Officer in January 2013. His previous career highlights include: Director, Fi…
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Simon Parkes was appointed Chief Financial Officer (SFA) in January 2016. He is also Chief Financial Officer at the Education Funding Agency . His previous career highlights include: Director, Finance and Commercial, Departm…
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Simon Penney was His Majesty’s Trade Commissioner (HTMC) for the Middle East and Pakistan. He was appointed in May 2018. Simon was also His Majesty’s Consul General (HMCG) to Dubai, appointed in January 2021. Simon spent the…
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Simon Perryman is an independent skills consultant and former Executive Director at the UK Commission for Employment and Skills. He led the Commission’s work striving for more collective action by employers through stronger …
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Simon Polito (appointed in January 2012) was a City Solicitor with international law firm Hogan Lovells. He has over 30 years’ experience as a specialist in UK and EU competition law and has practised both in London and Brus…
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Simon Reeve is an Independent Director with significant international leadership experience spanning maritime, environment, energy & technology sectors. His board experience includes working with private and public secto…
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Simon Ricketts is Chief Information Officer of Rolls Royce PLC, a position he has held since 2010, where he is accountable for IT and business process transformation. He has extensive experience of leading large and complex …
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Simon has previously served as: Head of the Cabinet Office COVID-19 Taskforce, from March 2020 to March 2022 Director General, Withdrawal Agreement, Transition Taskforce, from January 2020 to March 2020 Director General Futu…
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Simon Sapper has 30 years’ experience as a senior national trade union official, first with Prospect and then the Communications Workers’ Union. He is currently Director of Makes-You-Think Consultancy, a trustee of Unions 21…
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Simon Sheldon-Wilson joined the Highways Agency in 2007 and was appointed Director of Traffic Management in 2010. Simon is responsible for the agency’s traffic officers, National Traffic Operations Centre and Regional Contro…
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Simon Shercliff was appointed Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Iran in August 2021. Previously he was Director for National Security at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) from February 2018. He also served …
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Simon Smith has been British Ambassador to the Republic of Korea since March 2018. He first visited North and South Korea in 2002-4 when he was Head of the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office’s NE Asia & Pacif…
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Mr Simon Thomas OBE is a senior British diplomat. Simon joined the Diplomatic Service in 1997, after graduating from Birmingham University with a first class Honours Degree in Russian Language and Literature. He has served …
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Simon Toole was Director, Licensing and Legal at the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) from 2015 to 2017. In this role he was responsible for oil and gas licensing, exploration and development, and methane and CO2 storage. He prev…
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Simon Tooth became Chargé d’Affaires a.i. in Monrovia in May 2025. Before this, Simon was Head of the West Africa Section. Simon joined the FCDO in 2007. He has been previously posted overseas in Yaoundé, where he worked in …
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Simon Tse was appointed Chief Executive of the Crown Commercial Service in 2018. He first joined CCS in May 2016 and led the Procurement Operations directorate. He served as interim CEO from July 2018 until his permanent app…
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Simon Virley was appointed Director General for the Markets and Infrastructure Group at the Department of Energy & Climate Change ( DECC ) in September 2009. In this role he leads government’s work on energy markets and …
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Simon Walker CBE was appointed Chair-Designate of the Trade Remedies Authority in February 2020 and was then appointed Chair in June 2021. Simon previously served as lead non-executive director of the Department for Internat…
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Mr Simon Walters was appointed His Majesty’s Ambassador to the State of Israel in July 2023. Previously, Simon was Director National Security for Middle East and Africa at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (…
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Simon Webb CBE, FICE, specialises in major programmes and strategic change. An Executive Director at Nichols Group, he has led their work on nuclear decommissioning and warships for the last 10 years, at sites in England, Sc…
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Simon Wood was appointed His Majesty’s Ambassador to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in September 2025. Simon joined the FCO in 1998. He has served overseas as: HM Consul-General Rio de Janeiro (2017 to 2021) Depu…
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Simon was the interim Director of Communication at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office from April to October 2018. He is a graduate of the Royal College of Defence Studies and was previously Director of Communications and …
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Sinead O’Sullivan is the acting Director General for Skills Group, taking on the role in January 2026. Prior to this she was Director of Further Education Oversight from December 2022 to January 2026, responsible for further…
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Siobhan Duffy joined UK Government Investments in 2021 to lead the Contingent Liability Central Capability (CLCC), an analytical and advisory unit set up to strengthen contingent liability expertise across government. Prior …
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Sir Adam Thomson KCMG served as the UK Permanent Representative to NATO from 2014 to 2016. Full Name: Mr Adam Thomson Married to: Fariba Shirazi Thomson Children: Three *2010-2013 British High Commissioner to Pakistan 2006-2…
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Adrian Johns served for 35 years in the Royal Navy specialising as a helicopter pilot and flying instructor but also commanding 5 times at sea in ships ranging from a minesweeper to HMS OCEAN, Britain’s largest warship at th…
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Knighted in 2011 and elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2001, Sir Adrian is a distinguished statistician and currently the vice-chancellor at the University of London. He previously served as Director General, Knowledg…
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Alan Massey became the Chief Executive, Maritime and Coastguard Agency in July 2010. Before joining the MCA, Alan was in the Royal Navy, where he was Second Sea Lord and Commander-in-Chief, Naval Home Command, in the rank of…
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Sir Alec Douglas-Home served as Prime Minister between 1963 to 1964. Read more about the life and achievements of Sir Alec Douglas-Home in our past Prime Ministers section.
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Sir Alex Allan had a long career in the civil service, including roles as Principal Private Secretary to the Chancellor of the Exchequer and to the Prime Minister; as High Commissioner to Australia; as the Government’s ‘e-En…
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Alex Chisholm became Chief Operating Officer for the Civil Service and Permanent Secretary for the Cabinet Office in April 2020. Prior to that he was the Permanent Secretary to the Department for Business, Energy and Industr…
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Sir Andrew is a former UK Ambassador to Israel, and was UK Special Envoy for Post-Holocaust issues from June 2010 to September 2015. Sir Andrew’s career includes the following positions: British Ambassador to Israel, 1992 to…
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Sir Andrew Dilnot is Warden of Nuffield College Oxford and Chair of the Geospatial Commission. He was Chairman of the UK Statistics Authority from 2012 to 2017, and was the Chairman of the Commission on the Funding of Care a…
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Sir Andrew Haines was appointed as Chief Executive and Board member of Network Rail in August 2018 and retired in October 2025. During this time, he was tasked as 1 of the 3 leaders of shadow Great British Railways, supporti…
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Sir Andrew Witty was the BIS Lead Non-Executive until February 2014. Andrew became CEO of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in May 2008. Before this he held a variety of roles within the company both in the UK and overseas before being …
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Sir Anthony Eden served as Prime Minister between 1955 to 1957. Read more about the life and achievements of Sir Anthony Eden in our past Prime Ministers section.
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Sir Bernard is a British statistician who is Emeritus Professor of Statistics at the University of Oxford. Following senior appointments at the Universities of Bath, Bristol and Oxford, he was the Chief Scientific Advisor to…
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Sir Bob Kerslake became Permanent Secretary for the Department for Communities and Local Government ( DCLG ) on 1 November 2010. He was also Head of the Civil Service from January 2012 to September 2014. Sir Bob started his …
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Sir Charles Montgomery joined Border Force as director general in March 2013. Education Sir Charles joined the Royal Navy through BRNC Dartmouth in 1973, spending his first three years in service at Sheffield University, gai…
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Sir Charlie Mayfield was appointed Chairman of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills in November 2010. Charlie became the John Lewis Partnership’s fifth Chairman in March 2007. He joined the Partnership in 2000 as Head…
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Sir Chris Bryant was appointed Minister of State at the Department for Business and Trade on 6 September 2025. He was previously Minister of State at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and the Department f…
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Sir Chris Wormald was appointed Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service in December 2024. Before this he served as Permanent Secretary at the Department of Health (now Department of Health and Social Care). He has al…
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Sir Christian Turner was appointed as His Majesty’s Ambassador to the United States of America on 18 December 2025. Sir Christian formally took up the role on 2 February 2026. Previously, Christian was Political Director at …
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Sir Colin was appointed to ACOBA in 2009. He started his career in the Diplomatic Service in 1967, serving in Warsaw, Islamabad, The Hague and Bonn, including 2 years as Chef de Cabinet to the Vice-President of the European …
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Sir Craig Mackey is a Non-Executive Director at HM Revenue and Customs (appointed September 2025). He was previously Deputy Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service and retired in 2018. He has operated as a senior pol…
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Crawford Falconer is the Second Permanent Secretary for the Department for Business and Trade. He also heads the trade negotiation profession within the Civil Service. Previously he was the Second Permanent Secretary for the…