Meet our people

Adam Wicks

In March 2022, Adam Wicks celebrated his 20th work anniversary. What a journey both he and the business have been on over the last two decades!

Andrew Rackley

In July 2022, Andrew Rackley, Chess' Production Engineering Manager in Horsham, celebrated his 20th anniversary at Chess. As one of our longest standing members of staff, we thought it was about time everyone got to know him a little better...

Blair Garrigan

Blair Garrigan joined Chess in August 2018 and holds the role of Naval Systems Engineer Group Lead.

David Tuddenham

David has had an unbelievable impact on our business since joining back in 2011. During his time with us, we’ve thrived, grown, innovated and developed into one of the leading British surveillance, tracking and gunfire control specialists – and he has played an extremely important role in our success.

Jack Kirkman

Jack began his placement at Chess in July 2020 whilst working towards his Electronic Systems Engineering degree at Bath University.

James Baillie

Meet one of our apprentices, James. James is currently completing his Engineering Manufacturing Technician apprenticeship through the Engineering Trust whilst being wholeheartedly supported by Chess.

Kerry Barnes

Kerry joined Chess in 2016 and holds the role of Naval Systems Programme & Operations Manager. Based in Plymouth’s Naval Centre of Excellence, she is responsible for the management of naval projects across the business.

Matt Tripp

One of our Mechanical Engineers, Matt started working at Chess as a placement student whilst studying for his Masters in Mechanical Engineering at Loughborough University.

Magdalena King

Meet our Export Compliance Manager, Magdalena. Madga has been with the company since 201 when Chess was somewhat smaller and only had a handful of employees.

Nicola Grant

During the three years since Nicola joined us, she has become a vital member of the team. Hired as the PA to our then CEO, Graham Beall in 2018, it took us no time at all to recognise that there were more strings that she could and would add to her bow.

Oli Cooper

After graduating from De Montfort University with a first in Product Design, Oli took up freelancing photography and design work, before being selected for the role at Chess in early 2018.

Phil Passey

Phil has worked at Chess for nearly 18 years. Since he started all those years ago Chess has grown significantly, going from 15 people to the nearly 200 we have employed today.

Ram Sivanehru

Introducing Siva, he has been employed at Chess as a Senior Electronics Engineer since May 2021.

Rebecca Smyth

Rebecca is our technical lead on an electo-optical director intended for surveillance and precision tracking on naval vessels. She joined our team of engineers in 2019 and really enjoys the challenges of working within the defence industry.

Verity French

Verity has had a varied career leading up to her current role here at Chess. After completing a degree in Economics & Management, she staring working in property. After 2 years with Devon Chamber of Commerce, Verity stepped into the world of bids and funding with CSW Group.