About

Non-Executive Directors

Debbie Francis OBE

Chair of the Board

Joined January 2021


Debbie Francis has over 30 years of experience, both in the UK and overseas, across a range of industries from IT to infrastructure maintenance to rail. She is currently Managing Director for Loram UK Ltd having previously held the role of Northern City Executive for Arcadis, Managing Director of DRS, a major rail freight business, and before that, four years as LNW Route Finance and Commercial Director with Network Rail.

As well as being Chair of the Harwich Haven Authority Board, Debbie holds several non-executive Director roles including that of Chair of the Halle Concerts Society. In 2020 she was awarded an OBE for services to women in the rail industry and is currently working on a professional doctorate to try to understand more about the gender dynamics in the UK Rail Industry.


Alan Dowokpor

Deputy Chair

Joined January 2022 | Member of the Remuneration and Nominations Committee


Alan is a senior business, strategic, technical and operations leader with over 30 years international experience in the oil and gas industry. At BP and Tullow Oil, he led teams to deliver world class performance on financially and technically complex, large scale projects in challenging environments. He has held the positions of Global Head of Environment, Social Responsibility and External Affairs, Global Head of Well Engineering and Operations, and Business Manager for the North and West Africa region. Alan has worked in a variety of operational and management positions, including assignments in Ghana, Angola, Norway, Algeria, China, Vietnam, Australia, Papua New Guinea and the UK. He graduated with a Masters degree in Petroleum Engineering from Imperial College London.


Dame Lin Homer

Joined January 2019 | Chair of the Remuneration and Nominations Committee and Member of the Audit and Risk Committee


Lin Homer is the Former Permanent Secretary and Chief Executive of HM Revenue and Customs, a role she undertook from January 2012 until her retirement in April 2016. Prior to this she was the Permanent Secretary at the Department for Transport and Chief Executive of the UK Border Agency at the Home Office. Lin also held roles as Chief Executive of Birmingham City Council (2002-2005) and Suffolk County Council (1998-2002). Lin is a qualified lawyer, and holds a number of Non-Executive roles in the not for profit and charity sector. Lin was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the Bath in the January 2016 New Year’s Honours for public services, particularly to public finance.


Keith Winstanley MBE

Joined January 2016 | Member of the Safety, Health, Environment and Security Committee


Keith Winstanley has over 34 years maritime experience, predominantly in the Royal Navy, where he served in every class of warship, from minesweeper to aircraft carrier, and commanded four: a minesweeper, two destroyers and an amphibious command ship. He served for over two years as the senior Royal Navy officer in the Middle East and, concurrently, as the Deputy Coalition Naval Commander, commanding a force of 115 ships and 35 aircraft operating in a sea area of 2.5 million square miles. Keith has taught and lectured worldwide, on strategy and operational planning and has completed a research fellowship with Oxford University into maritime security and globalization in the maritime sector. He was made a Visiting Fellow at Oxford on completion of his fellowship. He is a Director of two UK-based companies and he took part in 4 of the 8 legs of the 2019-2020 Clipper Round The World Yacht Race – www.keithsclipperadventure.com


Jerry Wedge

Joined January 2022 | Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee


After gaining an economics degree at Manchester University, Jerry went into business, firstly with a ready-mix concrete firm, before moving onto Kirklees Council as Finance Manager. After an MBA at Heriot Watt University he moved to Wigan Borough Council as Finance Director, before being appointed the Resources Director of the Disabilities Rights Commission, dealing with all areas of the Disability Discrimination Act. He joined Trinity House (lighthouses and navigational aids for shipping) in February 2002, as Director of Finance & Support Services. Since taking early retirement from Trinity House in 2016 he has worked part-time as the Town Clerk for Frinton and Walton Town Council. He has also held various non-executive roles with the NHS, Financial Reporting Council and the Bar Council as well as being the Treasurer of the Royal Alfred maritime charity. He lives in Frinton, Essex with his wife and two sons.


Flemming Dalgaard

Joined November 2018 | Member of the Audit and Risk Committee


Flemming is an experienced chief executive and non-executive director with over 30 years of experience in the maritime industry and logistics sector. Flemming started his career with A.P.Moller-Maersk in 1986 and spent 21 years there in a variety of roles, including Deputy Managing Director Maersk Line Germany, Managing Director of Maersk Line UK & Ireland as well Group Vice President WOC. He spent a further eight years with DP World as CEO for the Europe and Russia region followed by the position as Group Senior Vice President responsible for Global Strategy. His last full time role was as Chief Executive of Gultainer, responsible for all port, trucking and logistics activities. He is a Chartered Fellow of the IOD and a Chartered Fellow of the UK Institute for Logistics and Transport. He is also an adviser to IFM Investors, an investment adviser to the APMC Africa infrastructure fund and a Non-Executive Director of Shipping SDK.


Nicola Hancock

Joined January 2021 | Chair of the Safety, Health, Environment and Security Committee


Nicola is an accomplished IT and operational leader, with experience working across multiple sectors in the UK and Internationally. She is currently a member of the IT Leadership of Shell, accountable for identifying and delivering bottom line value through Information and Digital Technologies. Previously she held a senior role within the Royal Mail Group as Director of Technology Business Operations and before that worked across a number of disciplines within Ernst & Young. A member of the Institute of Directors, she has a specific focus on technology and digitisation and is passionate about transport and the environment.


Jonathan Gibbard

Joined January 2022 | Chair of the Commercialisation Committee


Jonathan is an environmental professional with 19 years’ experience and is part of the senior leadership team for Ricardo, a leading international environmental and engineering consultancy. He looks after a team of ~200 people delivering a range of environmental solutions to public and private clients around the world – particularly in energy decarbonisation. He is dedicated to developing people and leadership, creating a high performance culture and helping organisations become more sustainable. Jonathan is Chair of the Commercialisation Committee and has a BSc in Marine Geography from Cardiff University and an MBA from Henley Business School. He is an enthusiastic amateur sailor and in 2007 completed 2 legs of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, taking responsibility as Watch leader for one of those legs, he loves being out at sea!