Phil Hannah

Risk Management Methodology Advisor

Philip had a successful military career for 17 years, becoming a Gurkha Battalion Second-in-Command and the Chief of Staff of Brunei Garrison in 2007. After spending three years with Aldersgate Partners LLP, a management consulting firm, he established Seven Questions, a London-based decision support consulting practice in 2011. Phil helps public and private sector clients make better decisions, execute strategy more effectively, protect their assets, and gain greater insight about their environment. Philip blends military, academic, and business practices to collaborate with high-level corporate clients.

Meet Our Team

Chris Hotchkiss

Chief Executive Officer

Chris is a highly experienced ex-military private security professional, with extensive corporate experience leading a $25m turnover organisation with over 2,000 staff. A Security and Terrorism risk assessment and risk mitigation specialist, Chris has also spent considerable time as a Consultant to World Bank projects across both Africa and the Middle-East.

Tom Tuppen

Non-Executive Advisor, Commercial

Tom brings two decades of experience to PDRS including military service, major event planning, and provision of high secure services to a range of UK clients on behalf of a multi-national blue chip security company. Tom specialises in developing and scaling new services and is supporting the team to meet the market need that new UK legislation will generate.  

Debbie Foley

Non-Executive Director, Marketing

Currently COO of Shell Recharge Solutions, an EV technology company, Debbie brings with her 25 years of rich international business experience including several global marketing leadership roles at Shell.
She has lived and worked in the Middle East, Africa and Europe and has led organisations operating in over 25 countries.
Debbie has a passion for customer-centric solution design and a proven track record of delivering commercial growth through developing value propositions and building operating models that customers need and want.

Chris Aldous

Operations

Chris specialises in the protection of crowded spaces, such as Sports Venues, Universities, Hotels and Shopping complexes. Consideration of behavioural aspects, through the application of his social and criminological studies, enables Chris to implement Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design. Chris was involved in the security design for a number of the Qatar 2022 world cup stadiums.

Steve Smith

Non-Executive Director, Technology

With a PhD in Information Retrieval and Computer Science, Steve brings over 20 years of experience as a CTO and head of engineering intelligence for numerous startups, and newly public entities. Known for his expertise in scaling software and teams, he has also successfully built and run SaaS tech companies such as CloudMailin and Attachment Scanner. Now serving as a Non-Executive Director, Steve leverages his extensive knowledge to foster strategic innovation and growth in the tech startup ecosystem.

Candace Gerlach

Marketing Consultant

With 15 years in the industry, Candace is best known for her ability to develop strategic marketing plans and brand communications that unlock brand potential and fuel business growth. Having moved away from corporate life in 2020, she now specialises in supporting a range of businesses across industries. She runs a marketing consultancy called The Conscious Marketing Group and is the strategic partner for Protect Duty Risk Solutions. Other clients include big corporates like Direct Line as well as charities such as Colostomy UK.