Management Team Alan Gardner, Managing Director Alan is Managing Director of EPS and an Associate Course Director for the UK Cabinet Office Emergency Planning College.  He sits as Professional Issues Director on the National Board of Directors of the Emergency Planning Society, holds Membership of the Business Continuity Institute and lectures on Business Continuity and Emergency Planning at Queens University, Belfast. In his current role, Alan is involved in the delivery of consultancy, training packages, workshops and development programmes for EPS clients. Alan is also a regular contributor to seminars and events, such as the Emergency Planning Society Autumn Study and the Royal United Services Institute Emergency Response seminar. He is a member of the National Project Working Group that developed the UK National Occupational Standards for Civil Protection. Before joining EPS, Alan worked within the Business Continuity and Emergency Planning fields for eleven years.  During this time, Alan was involved in a wide range of civil protection functions. Alan is a graduate of Leicester University and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and is a registered Prince 2 practitioner. Alan Elwood, Director of Business Continuity Management Services Alan is Director of Business Continuity Management Services and an Associate Course Director for the UK Cabinet Office Emergency Planning College. He holds membership of the Business Continuity Institute, Emergency Planning Society and the Institute of Civil Protection and Emergency Management. Alan is the Chair of the Northern Ireland Forum of the Business Continuity Institute, a member of the institute’s Crisis Management Advisory Panel and is active in the British Standards Institute committee tasked with developing Testing and Exercising guidance. Within EPS, Alan’s work has revolved around helping clients to plan for, mitigate, respond to and recover from major emergencies threatening business operations. He possesses a wealth of experience in consultancy, having supported a wide variety of organisations through the full spectrum of the BCM life cycle. Previously a leader in a resilience focused organisation, Alan completed a Masters in Defence Management, with Cranfield University in 2008, specialising in Risk Management and Corporate Security, including Business Continuity Management, and Disaster Management. He holds an Honours Degree in Electronic Systems Engineering. He is a qualified PRINCE2 project management practitioner and is IOSH trained.  Alan has also recently become a Business Mentor with the Prince's Trust. Arthur Davidson, Director of Emergency Planning Services Arthur is Director of Emergency Planning Services within EPS. As an Associate Course Director of the Cabinet Office Emergency Planning College Arthur is an accomplished trainer, having designed and delivered numerous multi-agency courses to a varied range of audiences. With 17 years in Northern Ireland’s emergency services and 5 years experience in the private security industry, Arthur has significant and varied knowledge and practical experience of emergency and major incident preparedness. Arthur’s practical knowledge of Emergency Preparedness extends to preparation, in the form of planning, training and exercises, as well as to the implementation of response and recovery protocols.  Arthur is an accredited structured debriefer and has assisted in the debriefing processes after major incidents and exercises. For the previous 2 years he has designed and delivered the Emergency Planning Certificate Course at Queen’s University Belfast.  In 2007 Arthur successfully completed a research project with the Office of Emergency Management in New York and the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management in Boston. He is often called upon to speak on the subject of resilience, being a previous keynote speaker at the UK’s Emergency Services Conference in Coventry. Arthur is an honours graduate of the University Of Ulster in combined Psychology and Sociology specialising in Education and Criminology. Bob Gardner, Non-Executive Director Bob Gardner is a results orientated leader with 30 years world class commercial experience gained across a number of business sectors. A chartered accountant, trained in the London office of Ernst & Whinney (now Ernst Young), Bob worked in the private sector for over 20 years with three UK quoted companies – Grand Metropolitan (now Diageo), The Boots Company and Games Workshop. He has held senior executive roles in finance, IT, strategy and business planning and general management. In these roles he has been responsible for risk management, disaster recovery and business continuity at strategic and operational levels. As well as developing established businesses, Bob has been instrumental in mentoring business start ups and turn-arounds. He has also worked successfully over many years in an international context with experience in Europe, North America and the Far East where he demonstrated a rare ability to develop effective relationships across business and cultural boundaries. Sarah Elwood, Business Support Manager Sarah is responsible for the provision of timely and efficient administrative support in all areas of our business.  Sarah currently manages all support for the EPS business consultancy division, including managing diaries and liaising with various stakeholders.  She also manages a regular schedule of training courses for EPS and for courses delivered in partnership with the Cabinet Office’s Emergency Planning College.  She oversees all practical arrangements and preparation of all consultancy and training materials as well as client liaison and financial management of the work provided. Sarah has a career background of diverse administrative roles having worked in both the Public and Private Sectors.  Her experience includes finance and policy administration as well as the prestigious post of Diary Secretary to a Northern Ireland Executive Minister in the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure.  Sarah also holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Degree from Queen’s University, Belfast.