Governance

Matthew was Operations Director at City Cruises plc and was responsible for a fleet of 27 class V vessels in London, York & Poole alongside 13 self-drive hire vessels and 110 operational staff in London alone. Matthew is now pursuing an independent portfolio career.

Matthew is the Chairman of the Passenger Boat Association and City Cruises is one of the founding members of the Association.

At age 21, Matthew became a Captain qualified to master Large Passenger Vessels and an instructor for, and the Principle of, City Training Group delivering first-aid, power boating and safety management courses to the industry. Mathew also chairs our remuneration committee (sub committee of the Board).

Jan is a Chartered Accountant and a former PwC corporate finance Partner with expertise in M&A, corporate finance, transactions, and a specialist in financial and business strategy. She is a board appointed independent director. Jan has a love of sailing and all things outdoors. She is also Chair of our finance, audit and risk committee (subcommittee of the board).

Paul is a company director and owner of Wave International Limited and Aycliffe Filtration Limited. Originally trained as a boat builder, after which, he left the marine industry to go on to become a manager for a major oilfield service company.

Paul then set up a new oilfield technology company which was awarded several R&D grants with industry partners such as BP, Amoco and Shell. A notable success of these projects was the development of the Wavestream oil removal filtration media which saw the birth of Wave International in 1999 and his return to the marine industry.

In 2009 Paul’s entrepreneurial skills and passion for the marine industry saw him start up a filter manufacturing company based in the Northeast, designing and manufacturing all the Wave International products, at present Paul manages Wave International’s global marine distribution network while improving and adding to a growing portfolio of new and innovative products.

Robert is Managing Director of Church Minshull Marina Ltd, a purpose-built inland marina.

Roberts sits on the British Marine Midland Association Committee (Chairman 2017-19) and is involved with British Marine and The Yacht Harbour Association as part of a Canals and River trust working group and is a member of The Yacht Harbour Association Council.

Lesley was appointed CEO of British Marine in mid-2018. Prior to joining, Lesley was Managing Director at MDL Marinas, Europe’s leading Marina operator.

Previous to this, her commercial career has spanned leisure, consumer goods, media and IT and she was also a Director of the Money Advice Service, leading corporate services and heading up the Service’s debt advice programme in the UK. At British Marine, Lesley is an executive main board director with specific responsibility for the strategic direction of the organisation, working in conjunction with both board and members, and its execution through her team at Tagus House.

She is also Vice-Chair and Trustee of Ocean Youth Trust South and a Non-Executive Director of Police Crime Prevention Initiatives. Lesley is a qualified chartered accountant by background. Lesley was recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List 2021, appointed to the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) for her services to the Leisure Marine Sector.

In her spare time, Lesley enjoys traveling with her husband (97 countries to date and counting). She also enjoys good food and wine, hill walking and the very occasional half marathon to burn off the resulting calories. Her current passion on the water is Stand-up Paddleboarding.

Earle joined British Marine at the beginning of 2020.  His previous career started in corporate finance working for the Danish Group ISS before moving into the Oil and Gas sector.  From there he successfully transitioned into the SME space with the marine engineering firm Burgess Marine where he oversaw high profile projects including two significant superyacht refits.

Earle is an executive main board member for British Marine and is responsible for the groups Finance, IT and Property departments and works closely with the Finance Audit and Risk committee.  He is a qualified accountant and holds an MBA in Strategic Leadership from Portsmouth University.

Outside of work, Earle is a keen tennis player and whilst living on the Isle of Wight enjoys being on, in or under the water at every opportunity.

Adrian is a governance specialist and commercial lawyer. He joined Princess Yachts in 2017 having acted for the organisation over the previous decade whilst in a national private practice law firm where he worked predominantly in the manufacturing, retail and energy sectors acting for major national and multinational Plc’s.

Adrian served as a Warfare Officer in the Royal Navy for 10 years and then retrained as a lawyer following 10 years' operational service in the Gulf, Caribbean, Australasia and the Mediterranean, as well as a stint as the skipper of a patrol boat.

Adrian graduated in Biochemistry from Cardiff University and subsequently obtained Post-Graduate Diplomas in Law and Legal Practice, he is also a graduate of the Governance Institute and a member of the Trading Standards Institute. Adrian sits on the Regional Council of the CBI, the Plymouth Growth Board and the Maritime Enterprise Working Group as part of the UK’s National Shipbuilding Strategy.

Lee is a lawyer and the Managing Director of Bartons Solicitors since November 2000 and has been responsible for every aspect of the practice, from IT to marketing and recruitment/retention and corporate and professional governance and regulation. Lee has been a director of British Marine (Southwest) Limited since its incorporation in 2004.

Ed is a Non-Executive Director, and previously Managing Director of ABC Leisure Group Ltd an award-winning inland waterways business that grew from 3 to 18 marinas, 20 bases with 200 canalboats for hire, a canal boat building operation, an online chandlery, a boat brokerage operation, 18 chandlery shops, a boat management business managing around 100 boats, 5 canalside camping & caravan sites and 6 holiday cottages, an award winning public house, and a licensed restaurant.

He is also a Director and company secretary of Latelink Ltd a marketing business for lastminute boating holidays.

He serves as a trustee of the H&G Canals Trust a restoration charity, and Director & Chairman of their income generating property company.

Ed was previously an advisor to various Visit Britain and Visit England tourism projects and on the advisory council of the Canal and Rivers Trust following its move from British Waterways to a charity.

CEO of Oyster Yachts Ltd, British builder of world’s finest luxury sailing boats. Previously Chairman since 2018. British Marine - Non-Executive director. Eden Project Ltd. Chairman, Non-Executive Director and Advisor since 2019.  

Previously CEO of UK’s largest regional newspaper group for 7 years, prior to that UK MD of Microsoft, and before that board director at the BBC, running BBC Online, their technology & R&D portfolio, and inventing and launching the BBC iPlayer. 

Over the years, have held a number of non-executive director roles including: Chairman of News Media Association, Chair of Environmental, Social, Governance Committee at William Hill plc, Non-exec Director British Film Institute, and Chairman of Way Ahead Group (now See Tickets). Earlier in career was a management consultant with PwC, and a Chartered Engineer. 

Martin is Senior Partner at Blue Sea Consulting LLP who operate a successful marina/ waterfront, leisure and regeneration consultancy business. Blue Sea Consulting LLP works closely with Government agencies and can assist clients in approaching government agencies on specialist marine leisure projects.

Martin is Joint Chairman of British Marine Scotland and co-author of the Giant Strides, the second Marine Tourism Strategy for Scotland.

Paul has been a Committee member on the MTA for 10 years and is the current Chair and BM Board member.  He has worked in the Marine sector for over 30 years and is passionate about the Marine Industry.

He is currently Associate Director for First Peninsula Marine, specialising in the sale and purchase of Marine companies and also offers specialist consultancy services.

Lyndsay is the Commercial Manager for Marine Industry News. As an experienced marketing professional with over nine years’ experience in communication, digital marketing and content strategy. Lyndsay is passionate about supporting the people working within the marine industry, she is the Chairperson for British Marine South and sits on several industry working groups.

Lyndsay Graduated from Southampton Solent University with a BSc in Criminal Psychology in 2011 and last year completed a MA in English Literature. Always looking for learning opportunities and ways to add to her skill set, Lyndsay is currently undertaking an online course in crisis management.