Company
The Management Team

CEO - Simon Bennett
Dr Simon Bennett became the Chief Executive Officer for the Forensic Science Service in October 2009. He spent the first ten years of his career in North America with the Applied Physics Dept of Stanford University and later became Vice President of Technology at Siscan Systems. He worked for Oxford Instruments plc, before moving to QinetiQ in 2000. There, he held a number of senior positions both as a champion of research and development and latterly in roles geared towards connecting scientific excellence to commercial opportunity.

Chairman - Bill Griffiths
Bill Griffiths is Executive Chairman of the Forensic Science Service.  He has an international finance and general management background, chiefly with Unilever - including spells abroad in Ghana, Nigeria and Côte d'Ivoire - and latterly with ICI.  He is also currently a non-executive director at DEFRA and at the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission (part of DWP). He was previously a non-executive at the Department for International Development and at HMRC.
 
Christpher Hadkiss – Executive Director, UKCJSD
Christopher Hadkiss is responsible for all aspects of operational activity within the UK and as the most senior forensic scientist in the company, directly advises the chairman and board of the FSS on matters of forensic science. His responsibilities also include leading operations in the successful delivery of forensic services to customers in England and Wales; liaising directly at the highest level with customers, police and Government on staff on key issues; and leading development and delivery of operational programmes. Christopher holds a BSc in applied biology and has a long and distinguished career in forensic science, having started as an assistant scientist at the Metropolitan Police laboratory in 1979. In 2003 he was appointed General Manager of the FSS’s London site, and subsequently Regional General Manager with responsibility for the south of England. He then became Director of Operations in 2007 and was appointed to the board as an Executive Director in January 2008.
 
Finance Director – Richard Hewitt-Jones
Richard became the Finance Director for the Forensic Science Service (FSS) in January 2010. Prior to joining the FSS he was Business Finance Director at Edwards Vacuum and his career has included senior IT, finance and marketing positions with leading international businesses such as Unilever and ICI.  He also has significant experience in foreign markets, having worked with Quest International, based in the Netherlands, and Uniqema, a chemical company in Malaysia.  His areas of responsibility at the FSS encompass IT, procurement, estates management, various business support services, aswell as all financial matters.

Mark Turner - Business Development Executive Director
Mark Turner joined the FSS board on 1 February 2008 as Business Development Executive Director. His work focuses on strategy, business development, corporate finance and ongoing relationships with the UK government. Mark holds a degree in natural sciences from Cambridge University and an MBA from the London Business School, serving internships with ICI Pharm (now Astra Zeneca) and SmithKline Beecham (now GSK). His MBA followed a period with investment bankers Hoare Govett; subsequently he joined Rexam plc (Bowater) and was part of the team that implemented a complete strategic transformation of the £2 billion consumer packaging conglomerate. He joined the Shareholder Executive at start-up in 2003 and established a strong corporate finance unit that is widely recognised for its quality and effectiveness (National Audit Office report 2006).