Management

Chairman

The Hon Nicholas Soames MP

Nicholas Soames has been a Conservative Member of the British Parliament since 1983. He was Minister of State for the Armed Forces from 1994–1997 and is a leading expert on Anglo–American defence matters. He was Shadow Secretary of State for Defence and a member of the Shadow Cabinet between November 2003 and May 2005. From 1967–1972 he was an Officer in the British Army. He sits on the Council of the Royal United Services Institute.

Chief Executive Officer

Graham Binns

Graham Binns joined Aegis Defence Services Limited as Chief Executive Officer in June 2010. He served for 35 years in the British Army; his last appointment was as the Commandant of the Joint Services’ Command and Staff College.

He has commanded at every level, from platoon to division, and has operational experience in Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Kosovo and Iraq.

In the late 1990s he was Chief of Crisis Plans Branch, Headquarters Allied Forces Southern Europe, in Naples where he led a team responsible for operational level Balkans planning and served as Chief of Staff Headquarters Kosovo Force to an Italian General. His tenure as Commander 7th Armoured Brigade involved operations in the Balkans and the Middle East. He commanded the brigade during the attack into Iraq in 2003. As Assistant Chief of Staff Commitments at HQ LAND he coordinated deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan and was responsible for the provision of Military Support to UK counter terrorist and crisis operations. He attended The Royal College of Defence Studies in 2006. His time in command as General Officer Commanding 1(UK) Armoured Division included a deployment to Iraq in 2007-8. He assumed his previous appointment as Commandant Joint Services Command and Staff College in August 2009.

Director

Brigadier James Ellery, CBE

James Ellery is a former British Army Officer with extensive experience of International Affairs. In 2000 he was appointed CBE for his leadership of the new United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Before joining the Board of Aegis London, he was a senior adviser to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, and latterly established and ran the 700–strong security framework operation for US Government-funded reconstruction. He returned to Aegis in November 2006 after a year as Head of the United Nations Mission in Southern Sudan.

Director

Jonathan Newman

Jo Newman’s career encompasses 18 years in the international banking sector, substantially in the Far East with Jardine Fleming, and thereafter some 18 years involved in a variety of Consultancy roles in the UK, within Financial Services and Corporate business management.

Director

Sylvia White

Sylvia White joined Aegis Defence Services Limited as General Counsel in December 2007 and was appointed to the Board as a Director in 2012. Her responsibilities cover all aspects of Aegis Group's legal and regulatory compliance including commercial contractual matters. Throughout this time she has been a driving force in monitoring and contributing to Aegis's implementation of the principles of Montreux Document and the US based Contractors on the Battlefield regulations ensuring that they became an inherent part of Aegis's practices and procedures and has broad experience of engaging with all the various organs of oversight who have demonstrated an interest in this field. Since joining Aegis she has carried on the work Aegis has been involved in since its inception - advocating greater regulation, accountability, transparency and indeed understanding of the newly emerging private security industry. To this end she was actively involved in the British Association of Private Security Companies, the International Code of Conduct process and has represented the industry on the Technical Support Committee during the draft Charter phase. In her General Counsel role Sylvia is involved in all aspects of the operation of the Company and has made a point of visiting operations in the field to ensure she has a clear understanding of the challenges faced by the industry. Sylvia is a qualified lawyer with 15 years post qualification experience.