Executive board
Supports the CEO in developing the vision and strategy, and by taking ownership of day-to-day management, performance and delivery
Mike Astell
Chief Executive Officer
Mike joined FCDO Services as Chief Executive in September 2021.
He has an engineering background and a career with over 25 years of leadership experience. Working on complex, large-scale projects, he has led transformations of businesses for large multinational corporates including British Rail, Alstom, Royal Dutch Shell and Centrica Energy.
Mike is a chartered engineer, a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and a Sainsbury Management Fellow.
He is Vice-Chair of the Board of Hymers College.
Jeremy Taylor
Chief of Operations
Jeremy is responsible for the operational performance of the organisation. He is a member of the FCDO Services Main Board and the Executive Board. He advises the CEO and board on all aspects of operations and supports the CEO in the development and delivery of the company strategy.
Jeremy is a chartered engineer and a fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
Before joining FCDO Services in June 2022, he built a career in the private sector and worked internationally – leading operations to deliver large and complex infrastructure projects across multiple sectors. This includes energy, oil and gas, liquefied natural gas, petrochemicals, manufacturing and datacentres.
Jeremy is a governor at Elthorne Park High School, with oversight of sixth form provision and equality for students who identify as being from an ethnic minority.
Yvonne Laird
Chief Finance Officer
Yvonne has responsibility for finance, procurement and corporate risk management and is Chair of the Investment Board.
Starting her career at KPMG, Yvonne’s career has gone on to span multiple sectors including technology, education, professional services and not for profit, working predominantly with public sector stakeholders.
She is particularly passionate about optimising the use of technology in the workplace and building corporate services with customer service and value for money at their heart, busting the myth of the “boring back-office”.
Yvonne is a Fellow of The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
Nasrin Cobb
Director of Customer Relationships
Nasrin works with parent organisation, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) to support and enhance the UK’s diplomatic platform services across One HMG. Her remit includes extending our partnerships with other UK government departments and with overseas governments. Nasrin is also responsible for embedding commercial excellence across FCDO Services to enable the organisation to deliver its ministerial targets.
Nasrin’s background is in business development and commercial and has previously held senior leadership positions with Lockheed Martin, Fujitsu and Electronic Data Systems. Nasrin is a non-executive director on the Royal Free Hospital Property Services Board.
George Hickerton
Director of Engineering and Operations
George is responsible for the successful delivery of all security and infrastructure, major projects and individual projects from other government departments. His remit ensures the organisation has a robust project, design and delivery team that ensures excellence for our customers.
George’s background is in engineering and has previously held senior leadership positions with Arup, Atkins, Capita and Haden Young. George is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers.
Gayle Worvill
Director, People
Gayle controls the Human Resources function of the business with responsibility for how the organisation is led and managed. She is accountable for the formulation of strategies around people, policy, advice and operations that support delivery of the organisation’s strategic goals and business plans. This includes reward, health and welfare, employee relations, talent and development, and recruitment.
Suzanne Pinkett
Chief of Staff and Director of Communications
Suzanne is responsible for advising and supporting the Chief Executive Officer in their day to day running of the organisation. As Director of Communications she is responsible for overseeing FCDO Services’ internal and external messaging and brand. She is also a member of the FCDO Services Executive Board.
Suzanne has an extensive background in central government and joined FCDO Services in 2016. She has broad ranging knowledge and experience in governance, policy development and in Ministerial and Parliamentary matters.
Melanie Johnson
Interim Director of Global Logistics Operations
Fraser Addiscott
Director of Regional Services
Fraser is accountable for all FCDO Services project and service delivery and local logistics performance across the four regions (Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe and Central Asia and MEA).
Fraser has been on secondment from Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office since 2015, spearheading the roll out of FCDO Services’ regional model. He is a career diplomat and has held a variety of leadership roles in Europe, Asia and Africa spanning trade and investment, corporate, political / economic and communications and marketing.
Liz Harris
Director of Technology and Operations
Liz has responsibility for delivering digital services and projects to central government departments and users globally, with a particular focus on increasing digitisation and automation.
She has worked in the civil service for 26 years. Prior to her current role she worked for the Ministry of Justice for 20 years in both operational and IT roles managing large programmes of work. Liz’s achievements include building the first online claims system, the first secure data transfer from legal practices directly into the civil case management systems and also leading one of the first Government Digital Service exemplars.
Liz is passionate about the move to adopt digital technology within government and strongly supports the government’s technology strategy.
