Speaker Bio’s
Explore the expertise and insights of our conference speakers who will share their knowledge, perspectives and valuable insights.
Keynote Speaker: Darren Sutton
Darren is usually happiest when he is either by the sea, at a live music concert or helping leaders and their organisations become the very best that they can be.
He is a Performance Psychologist who works mostly with leadership teams around the world in the areas of safety, health and wellbeing and has held a variety of operational leadership roles in some of the most challenging and competitive environments in the world.
Hobbies include travel, ocean swimming and live music.
He's an in-demand Keynote Speaker, a creator of innovative and highly acclaimed online learning programs and still delivers groundbreaking live courses that totally change the way leaders, managers and their organisations think, feel and act with regard to safety, health and wellbeing.
He is also the only safety professional in the world who holds an MSc in performance psychology and has extensive operational leadership experience across many different cultures.
Hannah Ault
CEO, Valentine Clays & President, Ceramics UK
Hannah Ault proudly serves as the first female President of Ceramics UK, bringing with her a strong commitment to innovation, sustainability, and the future growth of the British ceramics industry.
With extensive experience in ceramics manufacturing and business leadership, Hannah is widely respected for her leadership as Managing Director of Valentine Clays and has played a pivotal role in the company’s success by championing sustainable practices, supporting emerging makers, and promoting UK ceramics on a global stage.
Hannah’s appointment marks a significant and progressive chapter for Ceramics UK. Her mission is to cultivate a more inclusive, innovative, and sustainable future for the sector, one that thrives on collaboration, supports the next generation of makers, and leads with purpose.
Francis Morrall
Former Deputy Chief Executive, Ceramics UK & Former Pledge Board Chair
Francis Morrall’s 36-year career in the ceramic industry began in 1979 when he joined Wedgwood as a Trainee Industrial Relations Officer. On leaving Wedgwood six years later he was appointed Industrial Relations Officer for the British Ceramic Confederation (now Ceramics UK) and was subsequently promoted to Employment Director with responsibility for eight industry wages agreements. From this, his portfolio extended to health and safety, helping to introduce the Ceramic Industry Health and Safety Pledge. In 2009 he was promoted to the role of Deputy Chief Executive where his role was expanded further to embrace other issues including food contact legislation. His career has given him extensive experience of all ceramic sectors both at home and abroad, particularly in his role as Chair of the Cerame-Unie Environmental Committee
Elizabeth Hyde
Director, Hesper GRC
Before retraining in psychology, Elizabeth worked as a health and safety lawyer at a top 10 international law firm and spent nearly 17 years defending organisations against criminal investigations and prosecutions.
Hesper GRC offers training and consultancy services on psychological safety, leader behavioural integrity, and psychology for EHS professionals, lawyers and investigators.
Paul Verrico
Partner & Head of EHS, Eversheds Sutherland
Paul is the pre-eminent safety defence lawyer operating in the UK. He leads the Global Eversheds Sutherland Health and Safety defence practice. He has been ranked in Chambers since 2010 and described varyingly over that period as ‘a gifted and talented advocate; diligent; very responsive, pragmatic; an excellent tactician; brilliant.’ Recently, Paul wrote the legal opinion on the new version of HASMAP, which is the chief safety auditing standard for Higher Education Institutions. Paul regularly assists IOSH in commenting on new guidance documents.
He manages crises, ranging from explosions, suicide and falls from height on a regular basis, providing expert guidance on handling different stakeholders sensitively. As a solicitor-advocate he appears for organisations in Courts and Coroner’s courts around the country; he is a Fellow of the University of South Wales with a research interest in the developing law around mental health. He is also a trustee of the niche cancer charity Team Verrico.
Alongside his legal qualifications, Paul is cross-qualified as a safety practitioner and as an academic, holding post graduate certificates in teaching and safety. He uses this to good effect in providing consultancy services to global companies, providing legally privileged deep dive reviews into structure and strategy and assisting safety departments in behavioural safety and psycho-social safety. In the last year he has worked in Hong Kong, Europe and Oman on investigations and culture transformation.
Phil Crosbie
Partner, Eversheds Sutherland
Phil has been a regular attendee at Pledge over the last decade, delighting audiences with his legal acumen and insightful anecdotes. As a Partner in the EHS Regulatory Team at Eversheds Sutherland, he specialises in corporate criminal defence, regulatory advisory and non-contentious compliance work. His work spans a wide range of sectors and issues, including various aspects of health and safety, environmental, transport and product safety, acting for a range of 'household names'.
Phil has extensive experience in health and safety, in particular, work-related fatalities and serious injuries. On numerous occasions he has been involved in the accident investigation process and assisted with the management of post-incident actions following workplace fatalities. His has also experienced the prosecution process, including engagement with the HSE, Environment Agency and Police, and participated in legal proceedings and Inquiries on a number of occasions.
Beyond corporate defence work, Phil also has significant experience in non-contentious and compliance work, advising on proactive compliance, including health and safety management systems, product conformance, and licensing obligations.
Michael Bone
Director of Inspections, HSE
Michael has been with the Health and Safety Executive for 25 years. He joined as a frontline Inspector in the Newcastle office working at first in the service industry sector and then covering all areas of manufacturing.
He has considerable experience of inspection, investigation and enforcement across many industry sectors. In 2009 he took up a national role in what is now the Engagement and Policy Division (EPD) of HSE, taking the lead for various industry sectors including molten metals, printing and ceramics - working with our own Pledge initiative and presenting at previous conferences. He then moved to a central role overseeing the operation of the Fee for Intervention scheme and then to the Director of Regulations office leading a programme on the better targeting of inspections. He returned to frontline operations as the Head of Operations for Yorkshire & North East in 2018 and was promoted to Deputy Director in 2022. In November 2023 he took up the role of Director of the new Inspection Division.
