Alan grew up in North Wales and joined the Royal Navy in Oct 1980 straight from high school. During his service he served on 9 Ships, a number of shore establishments and in theatres of operation. Alan trained as an Aircraft Controller, a Navy Diver and in Tactical Warfare. Alan saw action in a number of conflicts including the Falkland Islands, Lebanon, Former Yugoslavia and was involved in various counter drug, people smuggling and disaster relief operations. He also served in the world of Intelligence as part of the Chief of Joint Staff HQ, which included a tour of Iraq as part of a multi-national intelligence unit.

Although managing and developing people was a large part of a military career, Alan moved into a more HR focused role after leaving the intelligence arena and was responsible for all HR aspects for the crew of a Destroyer both onboard and ashore. He also spent 3 years in the Defence College of Electromechanical Engineering as a Board member accountable for staff and students across 6 schools across the UK. Throughout his latter years within the Service, Alan undertook a variety of training including Coaching/Mentoring, high level Leadership & Management,Train the Trainer and Employment Law. In recognition of his service to his country, Alan was awarded the Queens Warrant in 2005.

Alan Joined Network Rail in 2010 as a Senior HR Manager, leading a team providing regional support for Network Development. Having obtained membership of the CIPD whilst in the Military he continued with his own professional development and achieved Chartered Member status. Following a move to Network Rail HQ he lead the People and Culture aspects of a £2.2m organisational change programme for Asset Management Services. On completion of the programme Alan moved to a Senior HRBP role supporting Technical Services before being asked to lead another major culture change programme nationwide.

After 5 years with Network Rail Alan moved on to a company in London to set up their HR Function from scratch. Prior to joining Keepmoat Homes, Alan has also run his own HR Consultancy Company providing HR services to SME’s in various sectors in the South East, been the HR Manager for a high level security company who looked after many of London top attractions, such as HMS Belfast and IWM.

Alan joined ROI in June 2022 and lives in a small village in Central Bedfordshire with his wife Sharon, who is a Project Management Assistant with Network Rail.