Board and Management

Appointment: September 2016 

Ken is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and a former partner at Arthur Andersen. He has a wealth of corporate finance experience, having previously held board executive director positions with Numonyx BV, Tomkins plc, Albright and Wilson plc and Alfred McAlpine plc. Ken joined Xchanging plc as its chief financial officer, and was subsequently appointed and served as its chief executive officer from 2011 to 2015. He was previously a non-executive director of Catesby Property Group plc, iSoft plc and Vega Systems plc, and served for six years on the UK Accounting Standards Board between 2006 and 2012. 

Ken is chairman of RPS Group plc and a non-executive director of Vertu Motors plc, Blue Prism plc and Gresham House Strategic plc.

Appointment: September 2018

Michael is Chief Executive Officer of leading UK sustainable waste management company, Biffa plc. He joined Biffa in 2010, was appointed Chief Financial Officer in 2013, and subsequently CEO in 2018.

Under Michael’s leadership, Biffa has created a strong purpose: ‘to change the way people think about waste’. Michael is committed to helping solve the UK’s waste challenge and understands the key role the sector has in tackling the climate emergency. Biffa has become the most efficient, low-carbon commercial waste collection platform in the UK, has strengthened its market leading position in closed-loop plastic recycling and has become a leader in the redistribution of surplus produce, following its acquisition of Company Shop Group. In 2020 Michael oversaw the launch of Biffa’s first sustainability strategy, ’Resourceful, Responsible’ which has given the company an ambitious plan with clear targets, setting a high bar not just for the business but for the waste sector as a whole.

Michael successfully steered Biffa through the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, making sure its key workers were protected and essential services were delivered while maintaining financial resilience and continuing to deliver the company’s growth strategy. In March 2020, under Michael’s leadership Biffa entered the FTSE 250, reflecting the business’s progress since listing in 2016. Michael is a Chartered Accountant and Director of the Environmental Services Association (ESA).

Appointment: September 2018 

Richard was appointed Chief Financial Officer on 29 September 2018. Having trained as a Chartered Accountant with Price Waterhouse, he went on to hold a variety of financial and management positions at Pilkington plc, Scapa Group plc and Manchester Airports Group. Latterly, Richard was the chief financial officer of AB Sugar, managing director of British Sugar and group chief financial officer of Boparan Holdings Limited.

Appointment: July 2018 

Carol is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, and qualified with Arthur Andersen in the UK. Carol was the company secretary of Halma plc, the FTSE 100 health, safety and environmental technology group, where she oversaw governance, pensions, group insurance and ethics compliance from 2008 until September 2018. Prior to this role, Carol was Halma’s group financial controller with oversight of all day-to-day financial planning and reporting matters. 

Carol is a non-executive director of Renishaw plc, Hunting plc and IQE plc.

Appointment: September 2016 

Michael has extensive knowledge of the waste management industry. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Waste Management and a former chairman of the Environmental Services Association. Michael held a number of senior management roles in the industry before being appointed group chief executive of Shanks Group plc from 1994 to 2007 where he oversaw the growth of the group. Michael joined the former Board of Biffa Group in February 2013. He was previously a non-executive director of TDG plc, Care UK plc, Van Gansewinkel Group in the Netherlands and the Saudi Investment Recycling Company in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Appointment: September 2016

David is a chartered management accountant and has significant experience of both domestic and global transport businesses. He was involved in the acquisition of National Express and the successive management buy-out, leading to the creation of British Bus Group Limited. David was subsequently appointed chief executive of Arriva plc, a position he held from 2006 to December 2015. He was previously a non-executive director of Ladbrokes plc and Arriva plc.

David is chairman of FirstGroup plc.

Appointment: April 2021

Claire is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Yell, the UK digital marketing services business. Prior to this, Claire was managing director of Centrica Hive Limited as part of a nine-year career at Centrica holding various general management and operational positions, including managing director of HomeCare, where she gained significant experience in customer service, digital and business transformation. Claire previously held executive leadership roles at General Electric and Santander and was a non-executive director at Northgate plc for four and a half years and member of its Remuneration Committee before stepping down from the Board following its merger with Redde.

Appointment: April 2021              

David leads Biffa’s Collections and Specialist Services divisions. The Collections division comprises Biffa’s Industrial and Commercial operations, as well as its household waste collections; collecting waste from 75,000 business customers and 2.4 million households. The Specialist Services division includes the recently acquired Company Shop Group which is the UK’s leading and largest redistributor of surplus food and household products. Using his significant experience in transforming business performance, David is focused on growing Biffa’s Collections business in line with its strategy. Prior to joining Biffa in January 2021, David worked in the energy sector for both EON UK and Co-op Energy for over 11 years, using digital technology to re-engineer operations and successfully grow the businesses. His experience also involves senior roles at companies including M&S, BUPA, Sainsbury’s, Homebase and Vodafone. David has held several non-executive roles in the public sector over the past 15 years, including the Department for Education, the Independent Police Complaints Commission and Frimley Park Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

Appointment: October 2010              

Roger joined Biffa in June 2010 following the acquisition of Greenstar UK Holdings Limited. Prior to this, he had previously been managing director at Verdant Municipal Limited and held board positions in other waste businesses. Roger is responsible for the Municipal business providing waste collection and street cleansing services to over 2m households and leading a team of 3,400 employees.

Appointment: September 2010              

Mick was appointed Chief Operating Officer, Resources & Energy with effect from April 2019, having previously held the role of Managing Director of the RR&T Division from September 2010. He is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Resources & Energy Division and the development of new facilities, including the EfW plants. In addition, he has oversight of the Group’s Environmental strategy as well as being a trustee of the charity Biffa Award.

Appointment: December 2010                              

Jane joined Biffa in 2010 having worked as Group HR Director for several FTSE listed companies, proving strategic HR direction and implementing HR programmes to deliver business benefits and growth. At Biffa, Jane focuses on its people strategy to ensure Biffa maintains its industry leading approach to health, safety and wellbeing. Her responsibilities include employee relations, learning and development, employee engagement and rewards & benefits. Under Jane’s leadership Biffa’s employee engagement score has doubled since 2011 and the Group is committed to supporting the Living Wage, creating a Living Wage Workplace across the Group. 

Jane is also a non-executive director of the legal and professional services business, Knights plc.

Appointment: July 2011                                

David was appointed Chief Information Officer in April 2020, having previously held the role of Group IT Director from July 2011. Davis has worked in the waste industry for 15 years. In his role David is responsible for IT services, IT strategy, the development of management information, project governance, and leading Project Fusion, the current initiative to improve the Group’s systems and processes, and Group innovation.

Appointment: June 2019                          

Sarah joined Biffa in June 2019 as General Counsel and was appointed Company Secretary on 11 July 2019. She is responsible for managing legal risk and in supporting the Chairman and the Board in maintaining high standards of corporate governance. She joined Biffa from Rotork plc, where she was Senior Legal Counsel and Company Secretary. Prior to that, Sarah spent a number of years in Australia as a senior in house counsel at ANZ Bank. She began her career in London at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner where she spent more than a decade as a corporate M&A lawyer. Sarah is qualified as a solicitor in England and Australia.

Appointment: November 2020                             

Cory was appointed Corporate Affairs Director in November 2020. Over the past 15 years Cory has led communications functions across public sector and utilities businesses having previously worked in the media as a journalist and editor for the BBC. Cory is responsible for media and PR, brand, internal communications, investor relations, regulatory and public affairs.