Meet the team
3 min read
British Safety Council Biographies
Mike Robinson - Chief Executive
Mike was appointed as Chief Executive of the British Safety Council on 1 September 2015.
Prior to this Mike was a co-founder of Global Navigation Solutions, the world's leading provider of paper and digital navigation products and services to commercial shipping.
Previously, Mike held the post of Chief Executive of the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (an Executive Agency and Trading Fund of the Ministry of Defence) where, over five years, he grew the business substantially, increasing profits and positioning the organisation to respond to increasing competition.
Before moving into the maritime services sector, Mike had a successful 15 years career in Financial Services, building HBOS's European Financial Services business and sitting on the Boards of HBOS Europe & North America and the Clerical Medical Investment Group.
Mike qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Price Waterhouse and spent a number of years at the start of his career in Audit and Consultancy.
Matthew Holder - Head of Campaigns
Matthew Holder is Head of Campaigns for the British Safety Council, overseeing public awareness raising campaigns on the subject of risk and occupational safety and health. With a particular focus on young people, he produces and commissions video, web-based content, mobile apps and magazine articles to communicate OSH messages.
Matthew has a strong policy background (including time at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office working on climate change policy and international negotiations), and is also a coordinator for ENETOSH, a European network to mainstream OSH into education.
Iris Cepero - Head of Communications
Iris Cepero is the head of communications at the British Safety Council and editor of Safety Management magazine since 2012.
She is a communications professional with more than 20 years’ experience working in a diverse number of organisations that include global corporations, independent business and the foreign service. She has lived and worked in Cuba, Spain, India and the UK.
She has been a successful bilingual journalist for more than 20 years, with publications in the US, Europe and Latin America.
Anna Ryland - PR & Media Manager
Anna is responsible for developing relations with national and specialist media on behalf of the British Safety Council, as well as coordinating its PR and media engagement in collaboration with different departments of the organisation.
She has 23 years of journalistic and editorial experience in the tourism industry and the consumer technology sector. She is a skilled PR professional, with first-hand experience of the media and a good understanding of the needs and requirements of journalists and editors, particularly in the B2B sector.
Paul Fakley - Engagement Director
Paul brings with him 26 years of marketing and business development experience gained in B2B and consumer-focused roles. He spent a significant part of his career in the insurance industry, heading up marketing for brands such as Direct Line and Churchill.
Dave Parr - Policy and Technical Director
Dave Parr has been heading Audit and Technical Services at the organisation for the last six years and has worked for BSC since 2005 in various roles including auditor, NVQ Manager and Product Development and Delivery Manager.
