The independent technology group

Nick Prest CBE – Chairman

Date of birth – April 1953
Nick Prest became Chairman of Cohort on flotation in March 2006. After graduating from Oxford in 1974 Nick joined the MOD. In 1982 Nick moved to Alvis, the defence contractor, undertaking a variety of roles before becoming chief executive in 1989 and chairman and chief executive in 1996. Nick left Alvis following its acquisition by BAE Systems in 2004, by which time the company had become a leading international business in military land systems. In addition to being Chairman of Cohort, Nick is also chairman of Aveva Group plc, a FTSE 250 software company, and of Shephard Group, a privately owned media company specialising in defence and aerospace.

Nick is a member of the Cohort plc Board, the Remuneration & Appointments Committee, and the Audit Committee.

Stanley Carter – Co-Chairman

Date of birth – May 1942
Stanley Carter became Co-Chairman of Cohort in 2009 having previously been its Chief Executive, a post which he had held since Cohort's formation in 2006. Prior to that he was Managing Director of SCS, which he founded in 1992 on leaving the Regular Army, which was acquired by Cohort at the time of its flotation. During his military service as a Royal Artillery officer he held a wide range of operational posts and staff officer appointments in the MOD, including the central staff, procurement, Government research establishments and had significant interaction with industry. He also represented the UK on NATO technical committees. He has degrees in Technology and Behavioural Science from Loughborough and the Open University respectively, and an MSc in Information Systems from the Royal Military College of Science.

Stanley is a member of the Cohort plc Board, the Remuneration & Appointments Committee, and the Audit Committee.

Andrew Thomis – Chief Executive

Date of birth – August 1964
Andrew Thomis graduated from Imperial College, London in 1987. He spent nine years in the MOD as a fast-stream civil servant, carrying out roles including technology research, scientific policy advice and a spell as a private secretary to the defence procurement minister. He left in 1996 and, following a period with Capita plc’s management consultancy arm, he joined Alvis in a role covering strategy, M&A and business development. Andrew left Alvis in 2005, following the takeover by BAE Systems, and worked with Nick Prest and Stanley Carter on the creation of Cohort plc, acting as Finance Director during the flotation and subsequently Corporate Development Director. Following two years as Managing Director of MASS Consultants Limited he returned to Cohort as Chief Executive in May 2009.

Andrew is a member of the Cohort plc Board.

Simon Walther – Finance Director and Company Secretary

Date of birth – July 1967
After graduating with a BSc from London, Simon Walther went on to qualify as a chartered accountant with Touche Ross in 1992. Simon moved to the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O) in 1993 where he was appointed a chief accountant for P&O European Ferries in 1995. In 1997 he was appointed Group Financial Controller at Alvis. He joined Cohort as Finance Director in May 2006, having considerable industry relevant experience with Alvis and BAE Systems.

Simon is a member of the Cohort plc Board.

Sir Robert Walmsley KCB – Independent Non-executive Director

Date of birth – February 1941
Sir Robert Walmsley served in the Royal Navy where his final appointment was as Controller of the Navy and member of the Navy Board as a Vice Admiral. He was knighted in 1995. After retiring from the Navy, he was appointed as Chief of Defence Procurement, occupying that position from 1996 until 2003. He served on the British Energy Board from 2003 until 2009. He continues on the board of the General Dynamics Corporation and Ultra Electronic Holdings as well as being a senior adviser at Morgan Stanley International and Chairman of the Major Projects Association.

Sir Robert is a member of the Cohort plc Board and chairs both the Remuneration & Appointments Committee and the Audit Committee.

Ashley Lane – Managing Director of MASS

Ashley Lane graduated from Surrey University with a Masters Degree (Distinction) in Electronic and Electrical Engineering in 1991. On graduation he joined Thorn EMI Electronics as a Systems Engineer working on countermeasures and electronic surveillance systems. He spent four years in technology development and licensing, building the successful wireless technology company UbiNetics. Ashley has held key technical roles on a number of electronics, IT and real-time system projects. He has held positions as Business Manager, Consultancy Division Head, Programme Manager and, for five years, Systems Development and Technical Director for MASS. Ashley was appointed as Managing Director of MASS in May 2009.

Bill Bird – Managing Director of SCS

Following an aircrew career in the Royal Air Force, when he was awarded an MBE for his work in the Intelligence community, Bill spent 10 years in general management. He was the General Manager of Rockwell's UK Defence business and spent three years as Managing Director of Boeing's UK subsidiary, BDUK, which he set up in 1996. Bill joined KPMG in 2000 and left to develop Hedra's defence and aerospace practice in October 2003. Whilst at Hedra, he led the acquisition of CSC's Systems Engineering Services. During his consulting career, Bill has had extensive experience of MOD procurement and support and directed the Defence Logistics Organisation's Procurement Reform programme. Bill was appointed as Managing Director of SCS in September 2010.

Stephen Hill – Managing Director of SEA

Stephen has over ten years' senior managerial experience, predominately in the international aerospace and defence sector. He began his career in 1983 at GEC Marconi as an electronics engineer, eventually becoming Business Director with responsibility for the land systems electro-optics business at Basildon. In 2000, he moved to Thales, where his roles included Managing Director of the Air Operations business at Wells, and Vice President with responsibility for the UK Air Systems Division. Most recently he was Chief Executive of CircleBath, a new venture capital backed private hospital in Bath. Stephen has a first class honours degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering and a Masters in Engineering Project Management. Stephen was appointed as Managing Director of SEA in March 2011.