Leah McGimpsey

Chief Executive Officer

As Chief Executive Officer, Leah’s focus is on implementing the Group’s strategy of organic growth, international expansion and strategic acquisitions to meet ambitious impact targets in our chosen markets. With a clear vision of the future, Leah believes in giving the whole of the business insight into the strategic direction of the Group and, crucially, their part in it.

“A CEO leads, but also enables the people around them to be successful. We are all empowered by being our best: as a trusted partner to our clients, as an advisor to regulators and as an advocate for nature. And to move and grow we need to continually innovate and lead, keeping science, technology and ecology at the heart of the business.

The strength of who we are is how we bring our capabilities into one place, with intellectual curiosity and open-mindedness central to how we think, feel and work together. At APEM, our understanding of how and why we do things is strong: talk to anyone in the Group and they will tell you about their love for the environment: enjoying their job, working on interesting projects and having a positive impact on the world.”

Leah joined the APEM Group as Chief Strategy Officer in July 2022, developing the Group’s vision and five-year strategy for growth, as well as overseeing
acquisitions and wider pipeline development.

With experience in business strategy, investor relations and mergers & acquisitions in the scientific and consulting industries, Leah has spent extensive
time in London, Vancouver (Canada) and her home region of the North West, UK, driving strategy and sustainable impact in fast-growing businesses including
Deloitte, Rocky Mountaineer, Waterland Private Equity and Cawood Scientific.

Like many of her colleagues, Leah has a long-held love of water, spending as much time as possible near the coast with her family. Her preferred sport is water polo, combining her keen competitive nature with teamwork, community spirit and the chance to visit far-flung places.

“Swimming and water polo are centring sports, with no airs and graces. They’re a fantastic workout and very grounding. Getting into a cold pool at 5am is daunting but immediately rewarding once the endorphins kick in and the day-to-day melts away.”

Nicola Hunter

Group Finance Director

Nicola joined APEM as Group Finance Director in July 2019, and has been pivotal in establishing and enabling the Group’s financial and business strategies. Since her arrival, Nicola has seen revenue increase from £10m to forecast c.£60m in the current financial year, and headcount grow fourfold, organically and through five acquisitions.

“My role is to plan out that growth and help the exec team to deliver it. When I joined, my role involved professionalising essential services, putting in the people, platforms and the systems to enable significant growth. And now that we’ve delivered that, it’s about how we improve further and how we scale efficiently, sustainably, ethically and sensibly.”

Nicola manages external stakeholder relationships, with private equity investors, lenders, auditors and tax advisers to update and engage with. As well as making sure that all external parties are informed and are comfortable with the business plans, Nicola values the openness she shares with internal stakeholders:

“I’m proud of the journey that the business has been on. And what resonates is how we treat others. There’s a mutual respect and friendliness: throughout a period of change and growth, we have retained the core goodness of APEM and its people.”

More than ever, Nicola makes time to stay abreast of advancements in the industry, especially automation, efficiency and how to harness technology. Technological advancement is a key strategic driver: 

“A huge amount of work is needed for us to deliver the requirements of the industry. We’re working on things that are absolutely vital for our planet, and for our environment. For me, the biggest challenge is the fact that there’s not an endless supply of people to deliver the work. Alongside that, we can look at R&D, technological evolution and enablement, and setting global standards and targets. We’ve got some of the leading brains on their subject matter at APEM, and the work they’re doing could be industry changing. Things are happening at a pace, and we can enable that progress in a responsible way.”

Meriel de Lacey

Chief People Officer

Meriel joined the APEM Group in 2022, bringing 15 years’ experience in HR leadership roles through growth, acquisition and integration. Excited to be part of a company with an environmental purpose, Meriel is applying her behavioural and commercial knowledge to a new space. Thoughtful conversations are a key part of her leadership style:

“Inclusivity excites me. Curiosity about the value of different approaches requires us to hold our own story lightly and actively exploring other people’s experiences and perspectives. I have a commitment to constant learning, to keeping up with the debate, and to turning talk into action and positive outcomes. What I love here is that natural curiosity and drive for impact is everywhere across APEM Group.”

As well as supporting the team throughout their careers, Meriel is looking to the future of People & Culture for APEM:

“Change has been a constant component of APEM, and our mission to take the APEM way to the world means this will remain true. This requires everyone here to be inspired by a shared understanding of the opportunities on the path ahead of us, and to be connected in a conscious but agile way through core values and multiple communities that create understanding and support.”

Meriel understands the importance of outreach, supporting development, growth and career opportunities for a pipeline of talented scientists and specialists: 

“We need to take a long view but there’s an urgency building. We don’t want to fight over scarce talent, we want to feed a sustainable pipeline of expertise by attracting and developing more and more bright minds. My hope is that our belonging and inclusivity groups will be part of this. That means shouting about what makes people at APEM so passionate, providing inspiration and development beyond our internal teams, removing any obstacles and offering a new proposition to those who might previously ruled out our industry; making people take a fresh look at what it means to be part of the APEM mission.”

Alistair Davison

Managing Director,
Marine Science & Development

From a young age, Alistair’s ambition was to become a marine biologist. With an immense respect for the oceans, he spends as much time as possible in or near the sea, working to preserve the marine environment.

After completing his degree in Marine Biology, Alistair’s career as an environmentalist began in academia, then moving to nature conservation management for Scottish Natural Heritage, where he gained insight in policy making and legislation. Alistair then changed tack with a role at the WWF, applying marine science policy in an NGO setting.

Environmental consultancy allowed Alistair to combine his environmentalism and knowledge of policy to large marine infrastructure developments. Applying the principles of sustainability and environmentalism to marine development, Alistair relishes being able to influence and manage teams, and to come up with solutions that are sustainable, consentable and buildable.

“That’s the challenge, and the exciting bit. Policy and legislation are supporting us, and are getting more rigorous. With issues like Biodiversity Net Gain, derogation and compensation in the mainstream for the first time, we have to consider sustainability from the outset of any development. The bare minimum is no longer enough: now, the more environmental considerations are made, the more chance of gaining consent more quickly.”

Part of Alistair’s role is to maintain APEM’s growth journey to become a major force in the global environmental and ecological consulting market.

“For offshore renewables, we’ve got strong systems, culture and teams at APEM, and with the recent sector acquisitions of GoBe and NASH Maritime, we are in a great position to grow sustainably. There’s a great collaborative and cooperative culture, and that bringing-together of diverse teams forms the foundation of the client-first attitude across the whole Group.”

“I’ve been a marine environmentalist my entire career, and the most important thing I can do is empower my teams to have an internal compass of what is sustainable: what’s the right thing to do for a project and to have the confidence to speak up.”

Darroch Baker

Managing Director,
Water & Land Environmental Services

Growing up in Australia, Darroch showed a natural interest in the environment and water resources.An environmental engineering degree piqued his interest in solving environmental challenges, and a role at a local water authority followed his graduation. Darroch moved to the UK in 2004, and held operational leadership roles in the infrastructure, construction and water industries before joining APEM in 2022 as Managing Director, Freshwater & Terrestrial.

“Water scarcity is as much of a challenge in the UK as in Australia, though it may not feel like it when rain ruins your summer barbecue. Future water security will require a multi-agency approach and coordination from regulators, government, local authorities, water companies, businesses, agriculture and consumers.

And environmental consultancy can have a big impact, as we work with all of those different stakeholders in different ways. Keeping science at the centre of the decision making process, we can prioritise investment and achieve the greatest benefit and value to the natural environment in the right sequence.”

Darroch feels immense privilege supporting diverse teams across the Freshwater and Terrestrial divisions, and collaborating with experts across the whole APEM Group.

“The challenges we’re facing in environmental consultancy are the challenges humanity is facing:biodiversity is disappearing at an alarming rate, ecosystems are declining and water is becoming scarcer. But we’re positioned to help make tangible improvements. Connecting and layering services through the natural curiosity of our teams is fantastic for our customers and for the natural environment, with robust and progressive solutions and a huge breadth of services.”

In his spare time, Darroch is a keen and competitive sports player, from cricket on the beach with his family to being a semi-regular fixture at his local tennis club. His childhood dream of getting to Wimbledon came true within a year of arriving in the UK–but with a ground pass rather than as a player!

John Seabourn

Chief Digital
and Information Officer

John joins APEM Group from the North Sea Transition Authority, the UK Government oil and gas, carbon storage and hydrogen regulator, where he was responsible for digital, data and technology capability, holding businesses in the oil and gas, offshore hydrogen and carbon storage industries to account on reducing emissions and driving the North Sea energy transition.

With nearly 20 years’ experience in data and digital transformation, John will lead the Environmental Data Services team (comprising Data Platforms, Data Capture, Sensing Technologies, Data Management and Survey Operations) and the IT team as they support the diverse needs of APEM Group teams and divisions around the world.

John is also a director of the Association for Geographic Information (AGI), comprising corporate and individual members from the GI and geospatial worlds. Sitting on the AGI Council, John takes responsibility for setting the strategic direction for IT and Technology within the organisation.

Dr Adrian E. Williams

Executive Director

Adrian has been with APEM since 2002. His knowledge, expertise and drive have been instrumental in transforming the APEM Group into a global environmental and geospatial consultancy.

During his time as CEO, Adrian saw the APEM Group’s revenue more than quadruple. This extraordinary achievement was accomplished through expanding market share, targeted acquisitions, developing client relationships and out competing on quality, service and insight. Adrian moved into the role of Executive Director in 2023, with a focus on championing science, quality and M&A, to achieve our key value drivers.

“We live our values as individuals and as a business. Every member of the APEM team helps deliver our high standards for quality, and maintain our reputation built on ethics and integrity. Positivity is absolutely key, as is treating people equally, and showing support for each other and the communities we work with. Our day-to-day work demonstrates our forward-thinking approach, and we
proudly support projects that deliver positive environmental change.”

Adrian continues to drive a culture of innovation, establishing new approaches and technologies that will drive change for both our clients and the environment, and identifying opportunities to innovate, creating a better world and leading the scientific charge.

Dr Stuart Clough

Executive Director

Stuart joined APEM as a director in 2006 and has been involved in projects and initiatives that have changed the industry and set global standards. Stuart moved into the position of Executive Director earlier this year having previously held a number of different roles, latterly Chief Client Officer.

“Clients say ‘we always come to APEM when we’ve got difficult problems.’ Our reputation and knowledge means we can work with both clients and regulators and talk to them on an even footing. We’ve always delivered scientific and technical excellence and recognising that as a part of our DNA is what led to the Client Engagement Group being created.”

The role of the Client Engagement Group is to further the international expansion of the APEM Group:

“The team pulls together the thought leaders for all of our external interfaces. We have to reflect our innovative nature in our marketing materials, in our bid proposals and when we’re talking to clients. Where we shine is often where we do things a little bit differently, or we push the boundaries, and where we partner well with our clients. That’s what differentiates APEM from other consultancies, and that’s what we want to establish in new markets and territories.”

With a long history at APEM, Stuart has a lot to be proud of. The journey of the Group and the team are a highlight:

“When we first started marine wildlife surveys, it was a completely new thing. We bought an aeroplane and a camera; we hired a pilot and we built a small team. We hired some people at graduate level, who wanted to get a foothold in the industry, and they wanted that first job. Quite a number of them are still with the business today in senior leadership roles, managing teams throughout all of our sectors. It’s a pleasure to know them and to see how their lives have evolved: they’re really upstanding people in society doing good things outside of work. That’s the thing I’m proudest of: we’ve been able to create great jobs for people and paths within the company for them to expand and grow their careers.”