Meet the Team – East Midlands

East Midlands Regional Management Board

Andrew Nicholls – Chairman – CSSC East Midlands

Andrew Nicholls has been involved with the CSSC project since it was established in 2011, as part of the security planning for the Olympics. He was originally an Industry Sector Lead and then became a member of the Senior Management Board. In December 2017 Andrew was delighted to be invited to take up the role of Chairman for the East Midlands Region.

Andrew was previously Chairman of the Food and Drink Security Association and a member of the Metropolitan Police Strategic Business Crime Forum. In 2015 he received a Chief Superintendents Commendation for his work during National Counter Terrorism Awareness week. In 2017 Andrew was voted the top influencer in security management at IFSEC and in 2018 received the George van Schalkwyk Award in recognition of his contribution to security management.

Prior to retirement Andrew was employed as the Head of Security for Mitchells & Butlers Plc and was also a Main Board Director of the Security Institute.

Andy Bunce – Deputy Chairman

Andy Bunce served in the Royal Air Force for over 32 years. He has an extensive background in devising complex planning and operational work in diverse and fragile environments. Accomplished in influencing organisations within the UK military, cross-Government and internationally on operations as well as security, policing and cultural issues from the strategic to tactical levels. He has worked operationally and in headquarters appointments within the United Kingdom, Germany, Gibraltar, the Falklands Islands, Turkey, Afghanistan and Bosnia. Born and raised in South Yorkshire, Andy read for a BA in Geography at Portsmouth University and MSc in Security & Risk Management at Leicester University. He is a Chartered Security Professional and a Fellow of the Security Institute.

Eddie O’Grady

Eddie is the UK Safety & Security Manager for Starbucks Coffee Company UK Ltd. He is responsible for the safety of partners (employees), customers and assets for the Equity owned stores in the UK as well as pursuing opportunities to remove complexity and improving efficiency while maintaining integrity within the operational standards of the company. 

Prior to his time at Starbucks, Eddie worked for DSG International in a number of retail roles, including managing Curry’s Superstores, before moving into the internal security function where he held regional and central security positions. Eddie has been involved with CSSC since its formation and is now an ISL for the East Midlands region.

Neil Shanks

Neil is the National Security Consultant for Corps Security. His role includes, but is not limited to, monitoring trends in the security sector, conducting various types of security and resilience reviews, penetration testing and intelligence reporting. Neil is also responsible for two National Accounts located in the Midlands and South West of England.

Prior to joining Corps Security Neil spent a decade working in secure custodial style settings, predominantly within Secure Mental Health. Neil was the Head of Security for a large Mental Health Charity during which time he was also a member of the National Association of Healthcare Security (NAHS) for whom he served a term as an Executive Director. Neil is also an active member of the Security Institute and assisted in the creation of the Young Member Group.

Paul Gibson – Chief Constable

Paul returned to Lincolnshire Police as Chief Constable in April 2024 having previously joined the force as a constable in 1998. Within Lincolnshire Police he served at all ranks up to Assistant Chief Constable, within most operational and specialist roles. enjoying the role of Senior Investigating Officer for major crime, Director of Intelligence, Divisional Commander and Head of Crime.

Paul graduated from the Strategic Command Course in 2018, with the uppermost grade of “highly effective”, whilst serving with Lincolnshire Police and then moved to Derbyshire Constabulary, performing the role of ACC for almost three years, leading territorial policing, crime, and specialist operations. In January 2021 he was appointed Deputy Chief Constable for the East Midlands Special Operations Unit which delivers specialist police services to the five East Midlands forces including:  forensics, major crime, serious and organised crime, counter terrorism and legal services.

Prior to joining the police service, he studied for a BSc (Hons) in Genetics at Liverpool University, obtaining a first-class degree.  He won a scholarship from Zeneca Pharmaceuticals and completed a PhD in Medicine at St James’s Hospital, Leeds.

Rob Flowerdew

Rob is the HSSE Insight Manager for E.ON UK within the energy solutions business’ HSSE function. He is responsible for the identification of HSSE risks and threats to E.ON’s UK
businesses and supporting proactive risk management. Rob also supports emergency and crisis response.

Rob’s previous roles at E.ON have given him experience in security risk management and the reactive side of security; including criminal and conduct investigations and civil litigation.

Rob is supplementing his Law degree by studying towards a Masters Degree in Security and Risk Management at the University of Leicester having recently achieved his Post Graduate Certificate in the subject. Rob is the ISL for the energy sector and was the winner of the CSSC ISL Award in 2018.

Ruth Nixon 

Ruth Nixon has worked within the Security and Communication industries for over 18 years.

Ruth’s current role as Director of Ten Four Solutions, who are an East Midlands based Communication and Security company, sees her providing solutions to businesses, local Government or Trusts around the UK whether this be a national pub chain, well known holiday park or NHS Trust to name a few.

Ruth has been a member of the Security Institute since 2015 and has recently been appointed onto the board of the East Midlands CSSC.

Steve Goad 

Steve leads the UK Global Security team for Capital One (Europe) plc and is responsible for delivering a wide portfolio of enterprise security services across the UK business footprint.

Steve believes that creating a secure environment, which facilitates effective business operations, is an essential art form and believes that CSSC can significantly contribute to the safety of employees, assist police operations and limit business disruption in the event of a security incident. Steve has worked in the security field for over 30 years with the police, the military, and has held leading roles in the private security sector, international telecommunications and the financial services. He is a Chartered Security Professional, a Fellow of the Security Institute and a Certified Fraud Examiner.

Detective Chief Inspector Marianne Winn

Marianne is Protect and Prepare Lead for Counter Terrorism Policing East Midlands, focussed on ensuring that communities, companies, and authorities are best placed to prevent and mitigate attacks. She has a background in partnership working, neighbourhood policing, intelligence and safeguarding, most recently through the Prevent strand of Contest and the management of terrorist offenders. Marianne believes that working together is essential to effectively mitigate security threats.

Marianne moved across the border from Warwickshire to the East Midlands for university, obtaining her degree at Nottingham University before successfully undertaking the Bar Vocational Course at Nottingham Law School, and joining Leicestershire Police.

Sam Hodkin

Sam has 18 years of experience in the Event Security industry, overseeing security operations at some of the UK’s most high-profile venues and events.

He is currently the Head of Security at the National Ice Centre & Motorpoint Arena Nottingham and serves as the Chairman of the National Arenas Association Security Group. Sam is also a Fellow of the Chartered Managers Institute and a Member of The Security Institute.

Brett Ennals 

Brett is Chief Executive Officer of Cento Personnel Limited. He has a long-standing career in the Fire & Security industry, starting at the Ministry of Defence in 1989. From Engineer to Sales, he established a career as Sales Manager with prominent industry name, Honeywell.

In 2005 he took the leap to start Cento, an unrivalled global market leader in recruitment for the Building Services and Facilities Management sectors. With his vast industry knowledge and experience, he’s changed traditional recruitment to become more strategic and tailored.

About the CSSC

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Recent news and messages
  • CSSC Green message – NaCTSO UK Protect Bulletin – 19 Jul 2023

    View this web page as PDF Title:    Use communications to keep your events safe this summer Message:   Want to have a safe and secure summer experience? Stay alert, report anything that doesn’t feel right, and follow security measures. Let’s keep each other safe. Our summer campaign has lots of free –to-use materials to help keep

    19th July 2023

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