Leadership Team
Leadership you can count on
Leadership Team
Our Leadership Team underpins our trusted, open and supportive people culture. With a sincere Team ethos at its core, each member of our Leadership Team is an expert in their field and proudly contributes to a united and collaborative working environment for all.
Senior Leadership Team
Group Managing Director
Andy Smith
- Joined Chess in 2025 as Managing Director.
- Responsible for leading the company through its next phase of growth and delivery, with a focus on developing people and strengthening the business for UK and international customers.
- Over 25 years’ experience in the defence industry, including senior engineering and operations roles at Leonardo and Marshall Land Systems. At Leonardo he served as Vice President of Engineering and Vice President of Operations and led international collaboration on the Global Combat Air Programme.
- Originally from Middlesbrough, Andy enjoys large-scale DIY projects, travelling to new places and spending time with his wife and two sons, both currently at university.
Business Development Director
Mark Byfield
- Mark joined Chess in 2017 and as BD Director he is responsible for leading the BD team to identify, develop and secure new business in the UK and international defence and security markets.
- He has spent 30 years in the defence industry in senior Programme Management, Sales & Marketing and Business Development roles at GEC-Marconi, e2v, BAE Systems, Selex and Leonardo.
- Mark is a qualified chemist, with a BA Hons in Chemistry from Oxford University and a PhD from the University of Surrey.
- Outside of work Mark’s hobbies include music, travel and regular trips to both Elland Road and The Rec to watch Leeds United and Bath Rugby.
Finance Director
Laurie Shelton
- Laurie Shelton joined Chess Dynamics as Finance Director in September 2025 and is focused on helping to drive and support the next exciting phase in Chess’ growth.
- A collaborative and experienced ACA, Laurie brings over 25 years of financial leadership and insight gained across multiple sectors and business cultures, with a strong focus on design and manufacturing.
- Outside of work, Laurie enjoys walking, playing tennis, gardening, tackling DIY projects, and spending time with his wife and two children.
Operations Director
Satnam Bains
- Satnam joined Chess in 2025 as Operations Director, bringing over 30 years of experience in driving procurement, supply chain and operational excellence across the defence, aerospace and telecommunications sectors.
- He has held senior leadership roles at BAE Systems Applied Intelligence as General Manager, Head of Group Product Delivery and at Leonardo MW as Head of Business Operations, where he led major initiatives to improve efficiency, scalability and delivery performance. In addition to these held Global Strategic and Supply Chain Management roles at Nokia Mobile Phones.
- Satnam specialises in supply chain transformation, process optimisation and continuous improvement, with a strong track record of supporting growth in complex technical environments.
- Combining strategic thinking with a hands-on approach, Satnam builds high-performing teams and robust operational processes to consistently deliver against business and customer goals.
Programme Director
Kerry Barnes
- Kerry is a multi-skilled Programme Director with extensive experience within global defence markets.
- In her early years Kerry qualified as an as Engineer, as such she is able to use sound engineering judgements to influence decisions both internally and external in this capacity.
- Kerry started at Chess in 2016 as a Project Manager. She was promoted to Programme Manager in 2018 responsible for the delivery of all projects within the Maritime Sector of the Business, before becoming the Programme Director in 2024.
HR Director
Lottie Pepler
- Lottie joined Chess Dynamics in January 2023. She is responsible for leading the People strategy to grow talent, and high performance teams across the business.
- With over 30 years of experience in Human Resources, Lottie has worked for diverse and multi-site organisations during her varied career. Previous companies include Honeywell, OCS Group and most recently, British Sugar.
Naval Systems Director
Michael Green
- Dr Michael Green has been working in Plymouth in the defence industry since 1990.
- A Systems Engineer by trade, he has worked in Video Trackers, Ground Based Air Defence, Airborne Targeting and Surface military systems.
- He has been leading the Naval Systems team at Chess Dynamics since 2015 , growing the team from 5 to over 25 people.
Director of Image Processing
Steve Hogg
An integral part of the Vision4ce brand since its acquisition, Steve is Director of Image Processing at Chess Dynamics.
Steve joined the Vision4ce team in 2008 to bring business management and systems engineering expertise to support the organisation’s transition to a product-based business.
He was one of the founding owners/management team members at Octec in 1989, which went on to become the world leader in automatic video tracking solutions.
He also previously worked as an electronics engineer at Radamec, British Aerospace, and Marconi.
Engineering Director
Steve Holloway
- Over 30 years’ experience in the defence industry particularly in naval and air domains with expertise in Electronic Warfare, Test Equipment and Electro-Optical Systems.
- Steve brings a huge amount of knowledge and experience to Chess and provides leadership of the engineering team at our Horsham and Plymouth offices.
