Our leadership

Global Marine Group is recognised across the world for engineering innovation, our team’s passion for success is at the heart what we do. Our leadership team are responsible for the management of the business, focusing on delivering the highest quality services for our customers, fostering partnerships and supporting the development of our global workforce and fleet.

Paul Deslandes

CEO

Paul has been with the company since 1998. He is CEO and also heads up the telecoms teams within the business and is responsible for project delivery, maintenance and all things related to vessels and subsea.

He is highly experienced in key programme and project delivery in compliance with legislative & company standards, polices, and procedures. The projects that have been delivered by Paul and his team vary across the telecoms, renewable energy along with oil & gas sectors. He also contributes to an implementation of improvement programmes within the business as well as being a member of the quality, safety, and environmental committees.

Steve Pearce

Chief Financial Officer

Steve joined Global Marine Group in 2019 as Director of Financial Planning and Analysis moving to Director of FP&A and Corporate Development in Feb 2020 and most recently to the role of CFO in January 2026. He has worked in a range of finance-based roles across a variety of industries, particularly telecommunications, manufacturing and FMCG. From these Steve brings considerable experience in financial analysis, reporting and performance management, strategy development and business process change. Most recently he was Finance Director and then Supply Chain & Integration Director for a food manufacturing group.

Steve holds a BA (Hons) degree in Accounting and Financial Management and qualified as a Chartered Accountant with KPMG.

Neil Burns

Managing Director of Asset & Operations

Neil started his career with the Royal Navy and trained as a Marine Engineer serving on Nuclear Submarines, before making the move to the Merchant Navy where he served in a number of companies including Global Marine rising to the rank of Chief Engineer. Neil came ashore in 2004 as Technical Superintendent, followed by Fleet Manager, Fleet Director in offshore Oil, Gas and Chemical and most recently Managing Director within marine telecoms.

Dan Thomas, MBA, MIEEE

Managing Director, SubConnect

Dan is an MBA-qualified Managing Director with over 20 years of P&L responsibility across complex engineering and manufacturing environments. He joined the Global Marine Group as Managing Director of our SubConnect business unit in 2025.

Throughout his career, he has scaled technical businesses from start-up to global operations, delivering proven revenue growth and operational excellence across many markets including data centre, oil & gas, electronics and precision engineering sectors.

Gail Clark

Managing Director, OceanIQ

Gail began working with Global Marine Group as part of the marketing team from 1996 to 2001. Following several years working in other sectors including professional services, retail and manufacturing in both large corporations as well as small start-ups, she returned to Global Marine Group in 2014 heading up marketing activities across the Group.

With the formation of OceanIQ® in 2020, Gail has assumed the role of Managing Director, taking to market the company’s rich wealth of subsea data and route engineering consultancy services.

Gail completed a BA (Hons) Business Studies degree, subsequently completing a postgraduate diploma in Marketing.

Leanne Thomson

General Counsel

Leanne joined GMG as General Counsel in 2022. She is a solicitor and Notary Public, with over 30 years of in-house legal experience.

Before joining, Leanne was a director of her legal consultancy and has worked in industries spanning oil and gas, renewables, construction and marine services.

Paul Rose

Director of HR & Talent

Paul joined Global Marine Group in 2012 originally looking after HR for the Fleet. He assumed responsibility for both shore and fleet personnel in 2015. Previously Paul has worked in a range of senior HR roles in the defence, telecoms, manufacturing and financial sectors.

Andrew Seaden

Chief Information & Security Officer

Andrew joined Global Marine Group last year having worked in various IT roles for over 30 years. He has experience in a variety of industries, including financial services and construction, amongst others.

Supporting all the business units across the Group, his focus is on technological business transformation. This includes reviewing and making improvements to internal processes, major system changes and transformation of the business environment.