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Andrew Varney joined the Royal Marines in 1986, aged 17. Throughout an accomplished 24 year career, he served the majority of his time within 45 Commando RM and 3 Commando Brigade RM and on operational service in Northern Ireland, Sierra Leone, Iraq and Afghanistan. He also served with the Royal Marines Reserve and on foreign service with the British Military Advisory Team in Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus, specialising in Georgia.

Qualifying in 2008 as a commercial aeroplane pilot, on leaving the military, he initially worked for a short period as a Bush Pilot in Uganda then as a Flight Instructor at his home aerodrome at Dundee, Scotland. On entering the maritime security sector he served his commercial apprenticeship as a strategic Project Manager for a large maritime and offshore security risk management company before founding Port2Port Maritime in late 2011.

Now Managing Director of the Port2Port Group business he has overarching responsibility for all areas of company performance with emphasis on capability, compliance, continuity and governance. Blending his extensive military service with considerable industry knowledge, he provides the strategic vision for growth within the maritime industry and wider security risk management sector.

Recently appointed as the new Chairman of SCEG he acts as an interface with its members, supporting the organisation to deliver and maintain industry standards through best practice and partnership with Government to help inform, shape and influence the future of the UK security industry both land and maritime.
When feasible, he enjoys fixed wing aviation as a part time Flight Instructor, hill walking and time at home in rural Angus, Scotland.

Paul has extensive experience in the defence and security sectors both from the practitioner’s perspective and at the highest strategic level including policy-making within government and the private sector.

Paul Gibson feels passionately about the vital work being undertaken by SCEG in partnership with Her Majesty’s Government to develop and implement regulation for the UK Private Security Sector. He is a counter terrorism, threat evaluation and risk mitigation expert, with a specialist interest in counter piracy.

His military career culminated as Director Counter Terrorism and UK operations, where he was responsible for global threat evaluation and UK contingency operations and crisis management. He enjoyed a distinguished military career, where he was known as an ambitious pragmatist with risk mitigation as a trademark. He commanded 4th Armoured Brigade (the Black Rats) in southern Iraq and 1PARA on 3 high profile operations including Kosovo and Sierra Leone. He was awarded the DSO and QCVS whilst in command of 1PARA, and an MBE for his work on counter terrorism.

His advice is valued at the highest levels and he has been a frequent participant at the government’s emergency response committee COBRA, where he advised the Prime Minister and a range of other government ministers. He is a respected defence commentator for The Times and a regular contributor to the BBC. As a defence and security consultant Paul Gibson is highly focused on helping companies to save money for example by increasing understanding about the threats to their operations and implementing risk mitigation measures to bring down costs and insurance premiums by lowering risk through practical counter measures.

Brinley joined the Defence Manufacturers Association (DMA), initially on a temporary basis, in July 1985, having graduated from  Sheffield University with a BA in Ancient History & Classical Civilisation. He worked for the DMA in a number of roles, before being appointed to the position of Exports Director in June 1999. In October 2009, following the creation of ADS through the merger of the DMA, APPSS and SBAC, he became the new organisation’s Director, Overseas & Exports.

The vast majority of his work constitutes providing offset, industrial participation and export controls-related help, advice and assistance to British companies. In this capacity he acts as Secretary to the Export Group for Aerospace, Defence & Dual Use (EGADD), and the United Kingdom Offset Operations Group (UKOOG) special interest groups.

As Secretary to EGADD, he provides help and advice to companies on export control matters and liaises closely with the Export Control Organisation (ECO), Ministry of Defence (UK), Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO), Department For International Development (DFID) and Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC), as well as with other industry bodies and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs). He sits on a number of export control related groups, including the joint Government-Industry Export Control Advisory Committee (ECAC) and is the Secretary of  a Section 5 prohibited firearms special interest group, and the United Kingdom Offset Strategy Group (UKOSG). He is also a Member of the London Countertrade Roundtable (LCR).