PA Consulting adds five partners to defence wing

PA Consulting has welcomed five new partners to its defence and security practice. Jeremy Berwick, Tim Crofts, Kweilen Hatleskog, Carl Roberts and Chris Rocks will help the firm’s defence offering, as it experiences a period of growing demand.

Threats to state security are constantly evolving, be it in the shape of military, cyber or terror threats. As such, defence and security organisations must evolve to meet them. PA Consulting helps government organisations and police forces reshape and reorganise to counter challenges to national security.

This work includes ensuring the armed forces have enough people with the right skills; addressing how the technology, people, organisational and cultural aspects of change impact the sector; and promoting innovation to maintain operational advantage. To help prepare for this task, PA has appointed five new partners to its defence and security practice.

Global Head of Defence and Security Peter Lovell commented, “I am pleased to welcome our newly appointed partners to our defence and security team. Between them they have a wealth of experience and their proven track record in delivering projects across the private and public sectors will be of immense value to our clients.”

Jeremy Berwick will now head up PA’s aerospace, defence, and space industry (ADSI) sectors. He arrives having most recently been senior vice president at Dataminr, where he led their expansion into Asia Pacific, UK, and European defence and security markets. Prior to this, Berwick was also previously Group Managing Director at BMT, where he led significant expansion of the firm’s '5 Eyes' defence and security business. 

Speaking on his arrival, Berwick said, “I have long admired the reputation, culture, and talent of PA, particularly in the defence and security sector. I’m excited by the market opportunity for PA and the prospect of working with some of the most capable people in the industry to help the ADS industry accelerate, whilst delivering sustainable technology led solutions.” 

Tim Crofts will support strategic transformation growth across PA’s defence and security business at a time of unprecedented global threat and change in the security of the UK national interests. An experienced strategist, Crofts was most recently the business development and strategy vice president for Leidos UK. At Leidos UK, he was also the UK lead for strategy development and represented the company as a TechUK Board Member and served on the firm’s Resilience Industry Suppliers Community (RISC) Council with the UK’s Security Minister, supporting the growth of the security industry with UK Government. 

Crofts noted, “I’m thrilled to join PA and look forward to doing some great work with our defence and security clients. I’m passionate about delivering operational benefits for the community, whether that’s finding new ways of bringing advantage against our adversaries or just doing things differently.” 

Kweilen Hatleskog joins PA to work with the firm’s growing commercial client base and will focus on disruptive, high-growth companies. Arriving from Northrop Grumman, she previously oversaw the firm’s corporate development and business planning as a member of its regional executive team. She brings over 20 years of experience in defence, space, and secure technology; enabling businesses and their investors to deliver sustainable growth. 

Commenting on her new challenge, Hatleskog remarked, “I was attracted to PA for its established reputation as an innovator and the company’s strong growth orientation. Having started my career at the Pentagon, I remain personally committed to ensuring that the UK and its allies can benefit from the disruptive technologies being developed now. PA and the PA team are uniquely positioned to help, with an innate understanding of the challenges that face growth companies and customers.” 

Chris Rocks joins a new and growing area of expertise at PA. He will now lead the firm’s space business. Rocks brings more than 30 years of experience in the space, defence, and security sectors, having previously worked for General Dynamics, CGI, and Serco.  

According to Rocks, “The skills and capabilities that PA has are really well aligned to the needs of the Global Space Sector, a sector that is growing, and increasingly critical to our everyday lives.” 

Carl Roberts finally returns to PA to help law enforcement, homeland security, and justice organisations better exploit data to keep the public safe. Previously a partner with the firm, Roberts left to pursue new challenges in 2017. He spent the last five years supporting the accelerated capability environment of the Home Office, and as the Managing Director of Naimuri. In his most recent role, he led Naimuri post-acquisition to grow revenue and headcount, delivering mission impact on data intelligence challenges across national security, homeland security, and defence.   

Roberts added, “I'm excited to be going back to PA because the quality of the people and breadth of work makes it the perfect place to deliver real operational impact across justice and home affairs organisations.” 

PA’s experts in defence and security combine their unrivalled sector insight with specialist expertise to resolve strategic conundrums for a wide range of defence and security clients. Our work includes strengthening national security to protect the public and save lives; ensuring the armed forces have enough people with the right skills; addressing how the technology, people, organisational and cultural aspects of change impact the sector; and promoting innovation to maintain operational advantage.