Senior team

Prior to his current role, Ben was UKSA’s Deputy Chief Executive and (previously) Director of Operations. He came to UKSA from a professional sailing background where he campaigned for the British Sailing Team and worked onboard various high-profile yachts. He has worked at UKSA for over 10 years. Throughout this time Ben has gained an unrivalled breadth of knowledge about the academy and its facilities. He has also graduated from Cranfield University with the Advanced Development Programme qualification.

Julia joined UKSA in 2018 after over 20 years of professional experience and achievements in the Advertising and Publishing Sector. She previously spent nine years as Chief Operating Officer of the Content Marketing Association (CMA). At the CMA she was responsible for delivering £60m of business to the content marketing sector, and driving it forward to become what it is now, a £1bn industry. While there, she also worked directly with top brands such as Audi, John Lewis, RBS, Boden, Bang & Olufsen and Standard Life, providing a consultancy service to help them enter the world of content marketing. Prior to this she was head of new business at media agency Starcom, following senior commercial roles working with Associated Newspapers and Sunday Business. Her communication skills ensure that she builds lasting working relationships with clients, colleagues, senior stakeholders and board level management. Under her direction, objectives are met on time and within budget.

Amy joined UKSA in June 2021 and brings a wealth of knowledge from 10 years’ experience in the fundraising sector. She has built multiple charity funding streams from scratch in several different charities, with a key focus on raising high value income. Amy is a recognised leader in the sector and strives to achieve sustainable income growth, having raised tens of millions of pounds for charities. Amy is Chair of the Chartered Institute of Fundraising’s Major Donor Group and sits on their highly regarded Convention Board. Having moved from London, Amy likes to get out on the water as much as she can now she’s by the sea. She also loves to see the world and has kayaked on every continent.

Simon joined UKSA in May 2018 after nearly 20 years spent as a Director in the residential property sector. Before that he worked in the City of London’s marine insurance sector, having trained as an accountant with Coopers & Lybrand. Simon worked for two seasons as a deckhand on sailing yachts in the Med after leaving University, and he has enjoyed sailing ever since.

Chris is a high-level RYA coach who has worked in the maritime industry since training on UKSA’s WIT course over 20 years ago. After working for Neilson and Sunsail, he travelled the world running high-end watersports resorts. After this he used his qualifications to set up RYA training centres in Egypt, before running UKSA Australia for two years. He is still passionate about on-the-water activities such as surfing, and is a keen mountain biker.