A Talk by Peter Sparkes, CEO of the RNLI

Peter took over as Chief Executive of the RNLI in 2024 and brought with him significant operational and leadership experience. Joining the Royal Navy in 1990, he served in a wide variety of appointments, both at sea on operational duty and ashore. Notably, he commanded the frigate HMS Cumberland on counter-piracy patrol off Somalia, the ice-patrol ship HMS Protector in Antarctica, and the 46 units of the Portsmouth Flotilla. In late 2019, he served in Washington DC as the UK Chief of Defence Staff’s Liaison Officer to the US Joint Chiefs of Staff in the Pentagon. Before his appointment as CEO, Peter had previous first-hand experience of the RNLI’s lifesaving work whilst serving in the Royal Navy as Commanding Officer of HMS Cumberland by providing support to the Torbay lifeboat in 2008 during the rescue of the Ice Prince, for which RNLI Coxswain Mark Criddle was awarded a Silver Medal.