Andrew Kinniburgh is Director-General of Make UK Defence, the Defence Trade Association belonging to Make UK – the Manufacturers’ Organisation. He joined Make UK in 2019 from the Cabinet Office where he was Wider Government Engagement Lead for the Government Commercial Organisation, following a 25 year career in the defence and security industry.

He spent nearly 10 years with Serco Defence, followed by senior appointments with Smiths Detection and two Ministry of Defence trading funds and a 7 year spell as an independent consultant. He holds a BA in Business from Heriot-Watt University and an MSc in International Defence Marketing from Cranfield University / UK Defence Academy.

Andrew has been involved with Defence Ministries and businesses in the Defence and Security sectors across most European countries and in North America, as well as the UK. Make UK Defence represents over 300 UK Defence Suppliers ranging from SMEs and mid tiers, to major Primes and is the lead Trade Association for the MOD’s Defence Suppliers Forum SME Working Group.

Michael Spiteri is the Gartner Consulting Regional Lead for UK & Ireland. Michael brings over 35 years of industry experience in senior leadership roles focused on growth and innovation. Michael’s deep experience from hands on delivery, managing complex supply chains and leading technology implementations has been earned across multiple industries, from start ups through to FTSE 100 Companies. His past roles have included Chief Digital Officer of Santander UK and Group COO for HSBC, which included the Innovation portfolio.    Michael has also held advisory roles in technology start ups and was a Non Executive Director in a publicly listed company.

Victoria joined Defence Digital in May 2023 as Commercial Director with responsibility for functional leadership of the directorate and commercial leadership of digital across the defence enterprise.

The enterprise focus includes digital category management, commercial optimisation & market innovation.

Prior to joining Defence Digital Victoria was the Commercial & Category Director for the UK Health Security Agency within the Government Commercial Function. Where she established and led the Commercial and Business Development functions.

Victoria has over 20 years’ experience in the Defence & Security sector, leading corporate procurement, commercial and finance functions within FTSE100/250 organisations including BAE Systems, QinetiQ, Airbus, Unilever and the UK Health Security Agency.

Victoria’s achievements were recognised by World Commerce and Contracting in the Inspiring Women list 2023. The Times & Sunday Times in 2019 as the winner of We Are the City Top 100 Women 2019 – Defence. Victoria was also awarded the Marshall of Cambridge Medal by the Duke of Edinburgh for her contribution to the industry.

Victoria is a chartered Aeronautical Engineer by background and holds an Executive MBA from Henley Business School. Victoria is a Fellow and Global Advisory Board Member of World Commerce & Contracting, a Non-Executive Council Member of The Air League Trust and a Non- Executive Director and Chair of Audit, Risk & Assurance Committee of the Inspiring Leadership Foundation

A reliable and conscientious Business Leader and Technology Director with extensive experience and knowledge working at Senior Executive level in the Aerospace and Defence industry. Past BAE Systems Global Engineering Fellow and representative on the programme boards of a number of High Value Manufacturing Catapult Technology Centres in the UK. A former council member and Non-Exec Director of TWI and member of a number of Advisory and Strategy Groups in the UK. Listed in The Manufacturer Top 100 in 2016. Awarded Honorary Professorship at the University of Nottingham in 2020 and at the University of Lancashire in 2024. Previous chair of the North West Aerospace Alliance and current chair of the North West Regional Defence and Security Cluster. Professor of Practice in Aerospace at the University of Nottingham. Director of A Schofield Aero Consulting Ltd and active advisor and consultant.

Amanda is the Group Social Sustainability Director at BAE Systems Plc. She is responsible for leading Inclusion efforts across our UK & International markets, accelerating integration of Sustainability ambitions into the Supply Chain and cohering all Social Sustainability elements across BAE Systems.

Amanda has extensive experience as a Commissioned Logistics Officer in the Royal Australian Navy and as a Senior Leader in the corporate environment. She has a special interest in Sustainability, which combines her desire for outstanding business performance with true positive impact for employees and business stakeholders.

In her Naval career, Amanda was responsible for ensuring Naval Personnel and the Fleet received the highest level of multi-disciplinary Personnel and Supply Chain support. In her corporate career, Amanda has a wide range of technical and leadership experience, specialising in Supply Chain Management and Sustainability Excellence across the Pharmaceutical, Utilities and Defence industries.

Amanda has a passion for collaborating across the Aerospace & Defence industry and holds the chair of the Joint Supply Chain accreditation register (JOSCAR) Governance Group and is the SME Champion for BAE Systems.

Amanda is a Fellow of the Institute of Leadership & Management, Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply.

Samira joined ADS in January 2024 as the Defence Director and is a member of the ADS Group Executive Team. Samira leads on ADS’s work across the Defence sector working closely with the ADS Vice President.

Working with and on behalf of our members, Samira has led on the Strategic Defence Review and Defence Industrial Strategy submissions and been part of the SDR Review & Challenge panel. She is also the Co-Chair for Market Engagement with MOD’ Deputy Director - Industry Collaboration & Strategic Supplier Management, part of the Defence Supply Chain Capability Programme, and is the UK Trade Association lead for the AUKUS Advanced Capabilities Industry Forum.

Samira has over 20 years of service delivery experience and was previously the Chief Executive of UK Defence Solutions Centre (UKDSC) part of the wider ADS Group, delivering on behalf of the DGP, powering export led growth. Within this time, she developed, launched and published the Joint Economic Data Hub (JEDHub), measuring the prosperity of defence and delivered cross sector innovation initiatives, all of which were recognised in the 2021 Defence Security and Industrial Strategy (DSIS).

Prior to joining UKDSC, Samira was the Strategy Lead at Serco, initially providing a portfolio of roles to DSTL, to help deliver growth and developed the £75M account strategy, followed by a secondment to UKDSC to help set the centre up and supporting the Defence Suppliers Forum (DSF) People and Skills working group. Here she developed, launched, and reported the first biennial skills survey with recommended interventions, published in the DSIS. In 2019 Samira graduated with an MBA from Warwick Business School, her dissertation focused on how to increase the engineering SQEP across the UK defence enterprise.

Chris Mayne is the Managing Director of Teleplan Forsberg, headquartered in Heysham, UK.

Founded in 1987, Teleplan Forsberg is a trusted provider of mission-critical Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) solutions for both defence and civil sectors. The company has a deep technical expertise in addressing complex PNT challenges, offering a comprehensive portfolio that includes Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers, inertial navigation systems, antennas, anti-jam technologies, and situational awareness software, including MANTIS our Battlespace Management Software (BMS). These solutions are engineered to deliver precise and dependable data, even in the most demanding environments.

Chris began his journey with Teleplan Forsberg in 2003 as an Engineering Assistant during an internship. Over the years, he progressed through various roles within the organisation, culminating in his appointment as Managing Director in 2020. Chris is actively engaged in the broader technology and innovation ecosystem. He is a co-founder and steering board member of the Electech Innovation Cluster, a member of the North West Business Leadership Team, and an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Lancaster University. He also contributes to several advisory boards, helping to shape regional strategies in education and innovation.