Richard graduated in 1985 with an Honours Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Kings College London. Since then he has gained more than 30-years experience in engineering consultancy, primarily in the pipeline and subsea sector in the UK, Australia and the USA. He has held board and senior management positions in a number of consultancy businesses. In 2005 he co-founded Xodus Group, establishing Xodus’ Subsea Division and opened the Xodus London office in 2007. He left Xodus in 2011 when the company was first sold and began working exclusively in the decommissioning sector. He led the Oil & Gas UK Decommissioning Baseline Study Joint Industry Project (JIP) from 2011-2013 and has been a consultant at Oil & Gas UK since then. He has been Programme Director for the INSITE Programme now in its second Phase since 2014. INSITE Phase 2 is co-funded by industry, NERC and DEFRA (CEFAS).