Peter Sparkes

Peter officially took over as Chief Executive of the RNLI on 26 June 2024. He brings with him significant operational and leadership experience.

Joining the Royal Navy in 1990, he served in a wide variety of appointments, both at sea on operational duty and ashore. Notably, he commanded the frigate HMS Cumberland on counter-piracy patrol off Somalia, the ice-patrol ship HMS Protector in Antarctica, and the 46 units of the Portsmouth Flotilla. In late 2019, he served in Washington DC as the UK Chief of Defence Staff’s Liaison Officer to the US Joint Chiefs of Staff in the Pentagon.

Peter became the Acting Chief Executive of the UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO) in July 2020 and was subsequently appointed Chief Executive in April 2021, leaving the Royal Navy to take up the permanent role. He led the globally significant maritime safety organisation throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, initiating the UKHO’s transformational shift to becoming a truly digital organisation.

Peter has previous first-hand experience of the RNLI’s lifesaving work. While serving in the Royal Navy as Commanding Officer of HMS Cumberland, Peter provided support to Torbay lifeboat in 2008 during the rescue of the Ice Prince, for which RNLI Coxswain Mark Criddle was awarded a Silver Medal.

At the time of this rescue Peter commented that it was a great privilege to see the determined efforts to take the last eight people off the vessel. He noted how well the coxswain handled the lifeboat in extremely challenging conditions and that the actions shown upheld the finest traditions of the RNLI, earning deserved respect from all involved.

Peter’s wife, Karen, is a lecturer in science at a Further Education college; their son is a Royal Navy medical officer. Peter is a volunteer with the charity ‘Help for Homeless’, a Royal Navy Reservist, a Younger Brother of Trinity House, and President of TS BLAKE, the Bridgwater Sea Cadets. He enjoys a range of outdoor pursuits, including cycling and walking the South West Coastal Path, cooking curry, and is an avid supporter of Liverpool Football Club.

Janet Legrand, Chair of the RNLI, said: ‘We are delighted to appoint Peter Sparkes as the next Chief Executive of the RNLI. He is a proven and accomplished leader and a great communicator with a strong sense of service.

‘He has clearly demonstrated his passion for and understanding of the RNLI and its volunteering ethos and is a volunteer himself for a homeless charity in the south west.

‘Peter has had a highly successful career to date and the RNLI Board is confident he has the right skills, experience and gravitas to take the RNLI forward into its third century of saving lives at sea.’

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