Former Royal Navy Rear Admiral appointed RNLI's new leader

Former Royal Navy Rear Admiral, Peter Sparkes, who served both at sea on operations and ashore, has been appointed the new chief executive of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).

During his time in the Navy, he commanded the frigate HMS Cumberland on counter-piracy patrol off Somalia and the UK’s Ice Patrol Ship, HMS Protector, in Antarctica.

Mr Sparkes also commanded the 44 units – aircraft carriers, destroyers, frigates, mine-hunters, patrol vessels, and the maritime explosive ordinance disposal teams – of the Portsmouth Flotilla.

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He then went on to work in Ministry of Defence acquisition appointments and was responsible for the development and introduction into RN service of the Warship Electronic Charting Display Information System.

Before leaving the military, Mr Sparkes served as the Chief of Defence Staff's liaison officer in the Pentagon in Washington DC.

In July 2020, he became acting chief executive of the UK Hydrographic Office and was subsequently appointed Chief Executive in April 2021.

RNLI chair Janet Legrand said: "Peter has had a highly successful career to date and the RNLI board is confident he has the right skills, experience and gravitas to take the RNLI forward into its third century of saving lives at sea."

Mr Sparkes also has previous first-hand experience of the lifesaving work the RNLI does. While serving as commanding officer of HMS Cumberland, he provided support to a Torbay lifeboat in 2008 during the rescue of the Ice Prince.