Our People
We are practitioners of high-performance teamwork and delivery and learnt about the key practices of direction setting, delivery and leadership in the most demanding of high-performance environments. We are not just observers or theorists; we have first-hand experience of what works and what doesn’t.
Overview
Mission Excellence was founded in 2003 by Justin Hughes, a former Red Arrows pilot. Over 13 years we have built a track record successfully partnering some of the world’s most successful commercial organisations, high-profile public sector bodies, multinational agencies and world championship winning sports franchises.
Credentials
We walk the talk, in particular in the recruitment of individuals who share our core values, team ethic and focus on outcomes. The team now includes:
- A Leader of the Red Arrows and several former fighter pilots
- A former McKinsey consultant
- 2 OBEs awarded for operational leadership roles
- A qualified psychologist
- MAs in Organisational and Leadership Development, Human Factors, and 2 MBAs from top global business schools
- A PhD and expert on safety management systems
Management
Justin Hughes
VIEW BIOGRAPHY
Mission Excellence founder, Justin, built the business from a zero base and is a renowned presenter on leadership, execution and risk, having addressed the Institute of Directors’ Annual Convention, and 'Leaders in Dubai' alongside Sir Richard Branson and Kofi Annan. He was a seed investor and founder partner in a retail fashion business and is currently a non-executive adviser to Inox, an emerging markets hedge fund. Justin is a mentor to 2 community interest businesses.
Prior to Mission Excellence, Justin was an RAF fighter pilot, having graduated as top cadet in officer training before going on to fly the Tornado F3. He was subsequently selected for the Red Arrows, performing over 250 displays including 3 international tours. He was the team’s Executive Officer. Justin has an MBA with Distinction from London Business School and a BSc (Hons) in physics from the University of Bristol.
Performance Programmes
Gemma Hardy
VIEW BIOGRAPHY
Gemma is an expert coach and facilitator with over 15 years’ experience in designing and delivering development programmes and communication strategies with the Army, McKinsey, as an independent consultant, and most recently with Mission Excellence. Gemma served for 6 years with the British Army as an Education and Training Officer and a further 7 years as a reservist Media Operations Officer. During the latter period she simultaneously worked for McKinsey & Co for 12 years, specialising in client communications and internal leadership development. Gemma holds a myriad of qualifications including an MBA, a PGCE and is a licensed MBTI coach. She works as a Senior Consultant at Mission Excellence on programme development and delivery including management and leadership development for NATO.
Kerry Maloney
VIEW BIOGRAPHY
Kerry is a qualified psychologist, specialist executive coach and human behaviour expert, focused on delivering outstanding business results. Kerry’s career started on Shell’s prestigious Graduate Management Programme and progressed through sales and marketing to management consulting. With over 20 years of performance coaching and advisory experience, her key areas of expertise include talent and performance management, leadership development, competency frameworks and behavioural change interventions. Kerry’s work has included development of global competency frameworks for both government and private sector clients including oil and gas, aviation, finance and professional services; she has extensive experience throughout Europe, Africa, the Middle and Far East and is Lead Consultant for Mission Excellence in the Middle East and North African region.
John Peters
VIEW BIOGRAPHY
any will recognise John Peters from the first Gulf War in 1991 as the bruised and battered PoW who was paraded on Iraqi State television. John returned to RAF flying duties, becoming an instructor pilot, before finishing his service in the MoD where he was responsible for programmes on performance, leadership, safety culture and human error in aviation. Since leaving the RAF he has worked extensively as a consultant in leadership, strategy and change. He has an MBA from Warwick Business School and is Vice Chair of the Association of MBAs. In addition, he runs the Leadership Module of the Executive MBA at the Academy of National Economy and Public Administration in Moscow.
John is a Senior Leadership Consultant at Mission Excellence, with client responsibilities including NATO’s Management Excellence programme.
Business of Excellence Workshops
Jas Hawker
VIEW BIOGRAPHY
Jas has undertaken a number of high-level appointments within the Ministry of Defence, advising senior military officers and civil servants on strategic and operational matters; specifically developing national contingency and crisis plans and advising on capability development. He has practical experience of operational level campaign planning having deployed to Afghanistan as a Senior Air Advisor. Jas is now Head of Teambuilding programmes for Mission Excellence.
Jas also has first-hand experience of developing and leading a world-class high performance team as Leader of the Red Arrows. As a fighter pilot, he was the youngest ever pilot to fly the Tornado ground attack aircraft on the front-line, and served on 4 operational squadrons taking part in both training and operational deployments all over the world; he is also a qualified flying instructor. Jas served alongside Justin in the Red Arrows for 3 years including 2 years flying as part of the synchro pair, before returning in 2007 as Team Leader and Commanding Officer for a further 3-year period. In this role, Jas was responsible for all aspects of Red Arrows’ operations including risk and safety management. He led the Red Arrows on overseas tours to the USA, Middle and Far East and has performed over 500 public displays.
Clive Soffe
VIEW BIOGRAPHY
Clive Soffe is a graduate in Biological Sciences. He became a Qualified Flying Instructor straight from training and subsequently flew the Harrier GR7 in the operational, display and training roles. Clive now flies the Boeing 747-400.
Garry Stratford
VIEW BIOGRAPHY
Garry Stratford is a Geology Graduate from the University of Durham. He has over 2000 hours on Front Line operations flying Typhoon and the Tornado F3 aircraft and was involved in Combat Operations over Iraq. He has been the Executive Officer of a RAF Eurofighter Typhoon Squadron and a Qualified Pilot Instructor.
Advisors
John Watson
VIEW BIOGRAPHY
John provides board support for businesses needing to deliver transformational change. A Chartered Accountant, his experience ranges from small private equity businesses in a number of sectors including software and energy, to large financial services organisations. Responsibilities have included Operational Excellence in Risk Management and Lending Portfolio Risk Strategy. John is a non-executive director of a select number of companies, an Operating Principle of Global Infrastructure Partners and Chief Commercial Officer of Edinburgh Airport Ltd. John is a non-executive advisor to Mission Excellence focused on business management, performance and growth.
Dr. Stephen Bungay
VIEW BIOGRAPHY
Stephen spent nearly 20 years at The Boston Consulting Group, primarily in the UK and Germany. He continues to work as a consultant with a focus on strategy development and execution, teaches at Ashridge Business School, Judge Business School in Cambridge and the European School of Management and Technology in Berlin, and is a sought after speaker. Stephen is also a respected military historian and author, with publications including both books and contributions to periodicals including the Harvard Business Review. Stephen’s area of expertise is the fusing together of his study of history with his business experience, to apply hard-won military lessons to the organisational challenges confronting senior executives managing huge numbers of people in fast-moving competitive environments, faced with ambiguity and armed with only imperfection information. Stephen has an MA in modern languages and a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Oxford. He acts as adviser on service development and delivery at Mission Excellence as well as contributing to joint programmes.
Facilitators
Pete Beilby
VIEW BIOGRAPHY
Pete Beilby flew the Tornado GR4 in the RAF and was involved in Combat Operations during the second Iraq conflict. He is also a Qualified Flying Instructor where he taught pilots to fly the Hawk Fast Jet Trainer. He has 3700 hours and now flies the Falcon 20 providing Electronic Warfare Training and Threat Simulation.
Chris Carder
VIEW BIOGRAPHY
Chris Carder has spent 30 years as a professional pilot and has over 10,000 flying hours. He has flown Canberras, Jaguars and Hawks, was a qualified flying instructor and a member of the Red Arrows. He now flies the Airbus A330 and A340 commercially and is a professional display pilot in the Extra EA-300.
John Green
VIEW BIOGRAPHY
John flew Buccaneers, Jaguars and Hawks in the RAF, was a Qualified Flying and Weapons Instructor, completed operational tours in the Balkan and Gulf Conflicts, and served with the Red Arrows for 3 years. He now operates the Airbus A320 for British Airways.
Jamie Harms
VIEW BIOGRAPHY
Jamie Harms flew helicopters and fast jets in the Royal Navy including the Sea King, Sea Harrier and Hawk. He amassed over 1000 deck landings and he was the Senior Naval Officer at RAF Valley as a Qualified Flying Instructor. In addition to his work with Mission Excellence, Jamie is Managing Director of a Defence Consultancy.
Andrew Keith
VIEW BIOGRAPHY
Andrew (or Boomer as he is known) has experience with both the Royal New Zealand air force and the RAF. He has over 3000 hours of fast jet experience on Harrier, Skyhawk and Hawk aircraft and has considerable experience in operational planning and flight safety. He has also spent 3 years as a display pilot for the RAF Red Arrows during the 2007-2009 display seasons.
Brian Kemp
VIEW BIOGRAPHY
Brian Kemp is an engineering graduate. He became a Qualified Weapons Instructor on the Tornado F3 and subsequently qualified as a Test Pilot, working primarily on the Eurofighter Typhoon. Brian has over 3,700 flying hours on 27 aircraft types, and now flies the Airbus A340.
Mike Ling
VIEW BIOGRAPHY
Mike Ling flew the Tornado F3 having been a Qualified Flying Instructor at only 21. He completed 6 seasons with the Red Arrows, 3 as a display pilot (including the Synchro Pair) and 3 seasons as the Team’s supervisor, Flight Safety Officer and commentator. He also has experience in project management and procurement having worked within the Military Flying Training System programme.
Paul Littlejohn
VIEW BIOGRAPHY
Paul is an International Relations Graduate and former RAF Fighter Pilot. He was a Qualified Weapons Instructor on the Jaguar with in excess of 1000 flying hours experience, including operational missions over Northern Iraq. After a short tour with the Army in Iraq, he served as an F/A-18 Hornet Instructor Pilot with the United States Marine Corps earning his day & night carrier qualification in the process.
Mark McNulty
VIEW BIOGRAPHY
Mark McNulty has completed flying tours on the Tornado F3, Dominie and Nimrod aircraft; he has also, has been a trials officer on Typhoon and a Flight Commander on Initial Officer Training. He has a Masters in Aerosystems, is finalising a Masters on Strategic Leadership and is a PRINCE2 practitioner.
Ben Plank
VIEW BIOGRAPHY
A former Hawk flying instructor and Harrier pilot, Ben has served on front-line operations in Afghanistan as well as participating in large multi-national training exercises. He also served four years with the Red Arrows including a year leading the Synchro pair and now commands the University of London Air Squadron.
Phil Roberts
VIEW BIOGRAPHY
Phil Roberts has amassed over 2000 hours of flying on Tornado GR4. He is a qualified weapons instructor and has been involved in numerous combat operations. He has also served in the RAF's Air Warfare Centre responsible for the development and delivery of large scale exercises along with providing operational planning and advice.
Garry Stratford
VIEW BIOGRAPHY
Garry Stratford is a Geology Graduate from the University of Durham. He has over 2000 hours on Front Line operations flying Typhoon and the Tornado F3 aircraft and was involved in Combat Operations over Iraq. He has been the Executive Officer of a RAF Eurofighter Typhoon Squadron and a Qualified Pilot Instructor.
Adrian Tait
VIEW BIOGRAPHY
Adrian Tait joined the RAF as a Weapons Systems Officer and flew on the Tornado F3 fighter for 15 years. Along with tours as a staff and policy officer for air defence operations, he was also an aircraft accident investigator, advising on a number of high-profile accident investigations, and a specialist in air safety. He has a first-class honours degree, a Masters degree, and a doctorate.
Elaine Taylor
VIEW BIOGRAPHY
Elaine ‘Dezzie’ Taylor spent 16 years in the RAF and was the first female to become a weapons systems operator on the Tornado F3 aircraft. She is also an experienced flight instructor. Dezzie holds degrees in Russian, French and Psychology and is an NLP practitioner.
Rich Wells
VIEW BIOGRAPHY
Rich is an extremely experienced fast-jet pilot; he has amassed 3000 hours of flying, he is a qualified weapons instructor and he has been the Commanding Officer of a Eurofighter Typhoon Squadron. He has been involved in exercises all over the globe and has served on many combat operations. He has also undertaken a number of non-flying appointments in the Ministry of Defence where he was responsible for strategic planning and operational capability development.
Mark Zanker
VIEW BIOGRAPHY
Mark spent 20 years in the RAF flying Jaguar and Harrier aircraft. He was a qualified flying and weapons instructor and was involved in operations over Iraq and the Balkans. He also spent 3 years as a pilot on the Red Arrows where he was the deputy team leader and he was part of the Red Arrows’ biggest ever display to over one million people in Sydney Harbour, Australia. Mark is now a Boeing 747 captain for a major airline.
How can we help you?
We are here to provide you with more information, answer any questions you may have and create effective high-performance solutions for your organisation.
Phone: +44 (0)20 3143 4100
Email: [email protected]