Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) is a trading entity and joint-defence organisation within the UK Ministry of Defence. It began operating on 2 April 2007, following the merger of the MoD's Defence Procurement Agency and the Defence Logistics Organisation, under the Chief Executive Officer of Defence Equipment and Support.[1]
DE&S initially had a civilian and military workforce of around 29,000 (77 per cent civilian and 23 per cent military) in the UK and abroad. By 2022, the DE&S workforce had reduced to around 11,500[2] with the majority based at MoD Abbey Wood in Bristol.[3]
History
Defence Equipment and Support was established on 2 April 2007. It is overseen by the Minister of State for Defence Procurement. The organisation supports Strategic Command and the individual armed services through Navy Command, Army Headquarters and Headquarters Air Command.
Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff (Military Capability)
Lieutenant General Robert Magowan
2022 –
Mark Russell became chairman in November 2019.[4]
The board provides strategic governance for DE&S and a forum for independent, non-executive support and constructive challenge to the Chief Executive and the Executive Committee. The DE&S board delegates some activities to sub-committees, namely the Audit, Remuneration, Programme Review and Nomination Committees. The Chairman ensures that the board receives feedback on these sub-committees and that it is able to consider their recommendations.[1]
DE&S is led on a day-to-day basis by the Executive Committee, which consists of the Chief Executive Officer, Director Finance, Director Human Resources, Director Strategy & Corporate Operations, and five Director Generals who lead the delivery of the programme of work in their respective domains.[1]
Sub-committees
The following subordinate Committees provide specialised support to the Executive Committee.[1]
Name
Business Case Review Committee
Innovation & Prosperity Committee
People Committee
Performance Committee
Safety Committee
Security Committee
Transformation Committee
Administration of DE&S and senior leadership
The organisation has been under the leadership of a civilian Chief Executive Officer of Defence Equipment and Support since 2015.
Chief Executive Officer of Defence Equipment and Support
Chief of Defence Materiel
Name
Title
Date held
General Sir Kevin O'Donoghue[6]
Chief of Defence Materiel
2007–2010 [7]
Bernard Gray[8]
Chief of Defence Materiel
2011–2015
Tony Douglas[1]
CEO
2015–2018
Michael Bradley[9]
CEO
January 2018 – May 2018
Sir Simon Bollom[10]
CEO
May 2018 – August 2022
Andy Start[11]
CEO
September 2022 –
Director General for Air/Army/Navy/Strategic Enablers/Commercial/Resources
The Chiefs of Materiel (CofMs), now Director Generals (DGs), are responsible for managing key relationships with the capability sponsor and user. They work at the strategic level to make sure that the operational readiness and sustainability needs of the user are met.[12]
The DGs ensure that an ethos of support to operations is in place throughout all DE&S activity.
Chief of Fleet Support
Chief of Materiel (Fleet)/Chief of Fleet Support/ [13][14][15]
Name
Date held
Vice Admiral Trevor Soar[16]
January 2007 – 2009
Vice Admiral Andrew Mathews
2009–2013
Vice Admiral Simon Lister[17][18]
2013–2017
Director General (Ships)
Chief of Materiel (Ships)
Name
Date held
Sir Simon Bollom[12]
2017–2018
Vice Admiral Christopher Gardner[19]
2019–present
Directorate of Ships Support
Director Ship Support
Name
Date held
Neal Lawson[12]
2017–2020
Russell Brown [20]
2020–present
Directorate of Ships Acquisition
Director Ship Acquisition
Name
Date held
Henry Parker[12]
2017–present
Chief of Materiel (Submarines)
This group now is part of the Submarine Delivery Agency.[21]
Chief Executive
Name
Date held
Ian Booth[12]
2017–present
Chief of Materiel (Submarines); post renamed as Chief Executive Submarine Delivery Agency
Name
Date held
Vice Admiral Sir Simon Lister[12]
2017–2017
Directorate of Submarine Acquisitions
Director Submarine Acquisition
Name
Date held
Rear-Admiral Paul Methven[12]
2017–present
Directorate of Submarines Support
Chief Strategic Systems Executive & Director Submarines Support
Directorate of Intelligence, Surveillance, Target, Acquisition & Reconnaissance
Director ISTAR
Name
Date held
Dr Simon Dakin[20]
2020–present
Directorate of Engineering & Safety
Director Engineering & Safety
Name
Date held
Stephen Wilcock [20]
2020–present
Directorate of Digital Information
Director Chief Digital Information Officer (CIO)
Name
Date held
Nigel Shaw[20]
2020–present
Directorate of Programmes & Change
Director Programmes & Change
Name
Date held
Simon Hughes[20]
2020–present
Directorate of Helicopters
Director Helicopters
Name
Date held
Air-Vice-Marshal Graham Russell[12][20]
2017–present
Directorate of Support
Director Support
Name
Date held
Steve Glass[20]
2020–present
Directorate-General (Commercial)
Director-General, Commercial
Name
Date held
Nick Elliot[12]
2015–2020
Morag Stuart [20]
2020–present
Commercial Operations
Director DE&S Commercial Operations
Name
Date held
Alan Peter[12]
2017–present
Phil Tozer[12][20]
2017–present
Commercial Capability
Director Commercial Capability
Name
Date held
Mike Greatwich[12]
2017–present
Commercial Improvements
Director Commercial Improvements
Name
Date held
Morag Stuart[12]
2017–2020
Graham Hyndman [20]
2020–present
Directorate-General (Resources)
Director-General, Resources
Name
Date held
Michael Bradley[12]
2016–2018
David Johnson[12]
2019–present
Financial Planning & Analysis
Director Financial Planning & Analysis
Name
Date held
David Johnson[12]
2017–2019
Ann Underwood[12][20]
2017–present
Directorate Human Resources
Director Human Resources
Name
Date held
Don Cuthbert[12]
2016
Daniel Griffiths[12]
2019 – present
Deputy Director HR Head of Function – HR
Deputy Director HR Head of Function – HR
Name
Date held
Katie Sloggett[20]
2020 – present
HR Operations
Head of HR Operations
Name
Date held
Scott Murray[20]
2020 – present
Performance & Reward
Head of Performance & Reward
Name
Date held
Nick Jackson, interim[20]
2020 – present
Talent & Organisation Development
Head of Talent & Organisation Development
Name
Date held
Amanda Lammonby[20]
2020 – present
HR (Strategic Enablers)
Head of HR (Strategic Enablers)
Name
Date held
Ruth Moesby[20]
2020 – present
HR (Land)
Head of HR (Land)
Name
Date held
Maureen Doherty[20]
2020 – present
HR (Air & Ships)
Head of HR (Air & Ships)
Name
Date held
Rachel Tothill[20]
2020 – present
HR (Military Human Resources & Commanding Officer)
Head of HR (Military Human Resources & Commanding Officer)
Name
Date held
Captain Nicholas Dodd[20]
2020 – present
Directorate Strategy & Change
Director Strategy & Change
Name
Date held
Barry Burton[12]
2019–2020
Krishna Dhanak[20]
2020–present
International Relations Group
International Relations Group
Name
Date held
Valerie Evans[12][20]
2019–present
Corporate Communications
Corporate Communications
Name
Date held
Dawn Cunningham-Martin[20]
2020–present
COVID-19 Operations Cell
COVID-19 Operations Cell
Name
Date held
Air Commodore Rob Woods[20]
2020–present
Major projects
DE&S manages over 600 defence procurement and support programmes for the UK's armed services.[31] Examples of current and future procurement projects include:
Responsibility for 'Logistics, Commodities and Services' (including storage and delivery of non-weaponry equipment, such as food and clothing, to soldiers)[34] was contracted out to the private sector in 2015 under an arrangement that included the transfer of 1,100 staff and construction of a new Defence Fulfilment Centre at MoD Donnington.[33]
References
^ abcdef This article incorporates text published under the British Open Government Licence: "Defence Equipment and Support Corporate Plan 2016 – 2019" (PDF). www.gov.uk. MOD UK, p.3. 2015. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
^"DE&S 2022–2025 Corporate Plan" (PDF). GOV.UK. p. 5.
^"Filton Abbey Wood: Crocodile and missile rumours at 'UK Pentagon'". BBC News. 19 July 2021. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
^"Russell to chair DE&S from November". Janes. 31 July 2019. Retrieved 28 October 2019.