Our Speakers

Adam Beadsmore left the Royal Navy as a Lieutenant in 1996. He joined industry and specialised in Portfolio, Programme and Project Management, becoming an Association for Project Management Chartered Project Professional in 2018.

Currently, Adam is a Project Delivery Director with Atkins, focusing predominantly on Maritime Programmes, he has also delivered numerous large and complex projects in the Rail and Telecommunications industries with Atkins and his former companies. Roles have previously included; Project Manager, Programme Director, Head of Programme Management Office and Project Delivery Practice Director.

Tony Harris studied Air Transport Engineering at City University on an RAF university cadetship and gained extensive experience of the acquisition and engineering operations of a number of different fast-jet types in Germany and the UK during 20 years of service as an engineering officer. During Tony's military career in the RAF, he acted as a reliability expert advising on requirements and programmes for a variety of air systems projects and held an appointment as the Personal Staff Officer to the two-star Chief of Staff at RAF Logistics Command Headquarters.

On leaving the RAF, Tony established a management consultancy business and worked in the defence and rail industries for a few years until joining forces with a software company in 2006 to form tlmNexus Ltd. Tony is a Chartered Engineer and as a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers he chairs the Institution’s Airworthiness Technical Activities Committee.

Emma Wade studied Chemistry at the University of Salford. She had a number of roles in Railtrack and Shell before she completed a Shell sponsored CIPD qualification which launched her HR career.

Emma joined tlmNexus at the end of March 2020 as the Head of HR. She has a generalist HR background with specialisms in employee and industrial relations and diversity and inclusiveness. She worked in a number of HR departments for Shell for 5 years before spending 3 ½ years at Northern Rail and 5 years at Royal Mail as an HR Business Partner, Head of HR and Head of Industrial Relations.

Ben Hawkins is an Associate Project Manager at Arcadis working in the Property Sector from the Bristol Office. In his role, Ben manages projects and programmes both in the UK and around the world for public and private sector clients. A graduate of the Arcadis Programme Management Academy, Ben is the sector Digital Champion, digitising the sector and the business.

Prior to joining Arcadis in 2017, Ben retired from the Royal Engineers as a Major. Whilst working at Staff, Ben gained the Managing Successful Programmes (MSP), Agile and APMP (now APM PMQ) programme and project management qualifications, an MSc in Battlespace Technology from Cranfield and became a Chartered Engineer with the Institute of Engineering and Technology (CEng MIET).

Kerry Sneddon has worked at Arcadis for 14 years. Kerry is the Early Years Programme Manager responsible for leading the Early Years team recruiting all the Graduates, Under Graduates, Apprentices and work experience into our UK business. Prior to working for Arcadis, Kerry had worked as an office Manager for a Facial Animation company who provided the animation for Grand Theft Auto and the Snowman she also worked in the NHS for a number of years as an Executive Assistant.

Polly Cameron served in the Intelligence Corps for 21 years in a variety of roles around the world and was fortunate to have been selected to command the Army’s Security Battalion. Prior to leaving the Army, Polly was the senior planning officer attached to the Metropolitan Police for security for the London 2012 Olympic Games.

On leaving the Army, Polly worked in the Cyber Security team in Bank of America Merrill Lynch as the regional Chief Operating Officer. From there, she was hired into Vodafone, where she has a global role in the Corporate Security team as the Head of Security Strategy and Policy.

James McCaffery joined Nexus as the Head of Service Delivery nearly two years ago after retiring from a 17 year service in the Army. He is responsible for all aspects of current operations on the Tyne and Wear Metro, the North East’s light rail rapid transit system. James ensures that the services perform to the highest standards at all times for the 100,000 passengers who travel on the Metro daily.

James commissioned into the Royal Artillery, the pinnacle of his career was commanding 7 (Sphinx) Cdo Battery for three years in Arbroath, Scotland. A passionate advocate for personal development James spent his last two years in the Army working with undergraduate students from the North East, developing leadership, management and resilience in selected students. He spent his resettlement focussing on programme management and business development. He has a master’s degree in Programme Management from Cranfield University and recently gained a Chartered Management Institute Level 8 Award in Strategic Direction and Leadership from the Manchester University Business School.