Colonel (Retd.) Richard Beatson

Commissioned into the British Army in 1986, serving as an infantry officer then rising to the rank of Colonel, Richard commanded an infantry battalion and served on operational deployments in Northern Ireland, Kosovo, Bosnia, Horn of Africa, Iraq, Sierra Leone, and Afghanistan. Following a successful military career, Richard left the British Army in 2007. His technical experience and military understanding led to employment with BAE Systems as a business development manager for conventional munitions, as well as Esterline Defense Technologies selling electronic counter measures. He spent some time heading up the Government & Defence division of J C Bamford (JCB) Excavators before joining Pearson Engineering Ltd in 2016. In 2018 he was promoted to Business Development Director and now leads a team with a global focus, providing mobility and counter-mobility vehicle attachments to armoured vehicles.