The people you will actually deal with

Nathan manages the day-to-day financial operations and financial reporting of the business. He brings 10 years experience with Grant Thornton UK LLP, where as a senior manager, Nathan advised a wide range of businesses including listed companies, privately held businesses and investment funds.

Nathan’s knowledge of data centre operations, together with his experience of start-up businesses means that he is perfectly placed to lead Crown Hosting Data Centres’ financial team.

Louise joined Ark in 2016 and is responsible for leading our compliance team whose remit includes Cyber Security across all relevant standards such as PCI DSS, Cyber Essentials Plus & ISO 27001, Health & Safety, ISO Management Systems, ISO certifications as well as our Licencing and permitting activities. Before joining Ark, Louise has over 25 years experience working within the telecoms, IT and education sector in both technical and non-technical roles.

Elizabeth qualified as a lawyer in 1992, beginning her career in private practice. During this time, she was seconded to work in-house for a large insurance company. She enjoyed this so much that she decided to permanently practice as an in-house lawyer, with her specialist industries being engineering and aviation.

Elizabeth joined Ark as a Commercial Manager in 2018 and largely dealt with all legal and commercial matters arising from the supply chain. Elizabeth quickly became Head of Commercial in 2021. Her daily duties include constructing and overseeing customer contracts, property matters, health and safety and supplier contracts. Elizabeth also manages the internal order system, as well as the corresponding team of paralegals.

The wealth and depth of Elizabeth’s experience meant that in 2022, she became an integral member of the team responsible for re-negotiating the Framework II Agreement with The Cabinet Office.

Elizabeth takes genuine pride in all aspects of her role. She specifically values the quality of service that Crown offers to clients, despite the competitive pricing. Elizabeth’s approachable manner often enables her to present both clients and colleagues with a workable and practical solution.

Sophie joined Ark in 2016 as a Client Delivery Executive and quickly became well-known for her client-centric approach, helping support, guide and assist organisations throughout their digital transformation journey.

Having worked with an extensive variety of both private and public sector organisations, Sophie became Head of Crown Operations in 2023 as a result of her keen eye for understanding the expectations of the customers we serve, while delivering outstanding outcomes.

As Programme Manager, Mike works with both new and current clients on the fitting out of data centres to their specific design requirements. He has an active hands-on procurement and client relations role that ensures all implementations are delivered on time, on budget and to the company’s very high standards.

Mike brings nearly 30 years of experience from various IT positions in both the public and private sectors, where he has been responsible for multi million pound projects. As a project manager at BT Plc, Mike was responsible for the delivery of numerous strategic projects that included liaising with executive stakeholders, external suppliers as well as several virtual teams.

Craig Wilson joined Crown Hosting Data Centres (CHDC) as Chair of the Board of Directors in January 2025. With a distinguished career leading some of the UK’s largest technology services companies, Craig brings extensive expertise in digital transformation, IT strategy, major programme management and strategic outsourcing.

Beyond his private sector leadership, Craig has worked closely with key public sector organisations, including DWP, HMRC, NHS and the MoD, giving him deep insight into the challenges and opportunities within government IT.

Craig is passionate about how new technology can improve public services and deliver better value for taxpayers. As Chair, he is committed to expanding the adoption of CHDC’s services across government departments and their technology partners, ensuring they benefit from secure, cost-effective and efficient hosting solutions.

Rob has over 30 years’ experience in the UK and European Real Estate capital markets industry as an advisor or principal and has executed over £2Bn of transactions across multiple geographies and asset classes. Rob is a chartered surveyor, has held senior positions at CBRE, King Sturge (now JLL) and advised the UK’s leading real estate institutions on Capital Markets transactions.

Huw joined Ark in November 2012 as Chief Executive to lead a new Management Team following the recapitalisation of the company. He has held key roles at a number of organisations, including BT Global Services and HP Defence and Security. Other roles in his extensive career include Chief Executive of the Atlas Consortium, delivering the Ministry of Defence DII (Defence Information Infrastructure) programme.

Huw also worked for the Asia Foundation, formulating and driving national reform programmes in Cambodia, as well as advising the United Nations on their efforts in Central Asia. Before this, he served with the Royal Hong Kong Police Force, latterly as a Detective Inspector.

Ian Perryment joined Ark in December 2012, from HP Defence and Security. Prior to this, he was CFO of the Atlas Consortium, delivering the Ministry of Defence DII (Defence Information Infrastructure) programme, and Finance Manager with the NAAFI, a multinational providing services to the British armed forces.

Ian is a chartered accountant, having trained with PwC, including a two-and-a-half-year assignment in Australia with the Transaction Services team specialising in due diligence, initial public offerings and financial modelling.

Charlie Forte was appointed Chief Information Officer for the Ministry of Defence in January 2018. He is the primary advisor to the Defence Board on Information and Digital and is responsible for strategy and policy on the operation, interoperability and protection of all MOD ICT, including cyber security and resilience; the promotion of new ways of working and information technology-enabled innovation; and the delivery of Information Systems and Services.

Prior to joining the Ministry of Defence, Charlie gained 36 years industry experience from leading IT globally as Deputy Group Global CIO at BP, as CEO of Global IT Services at Prudential and as Interim CIO at Thames Water. He has worked as an independent consultant helping businesses create and deliver change to transform their ability to exploit technology and to build internal capability enabling sustainable and lasting value from IT and business operations.

He has significant experience in leading business innovation, driving business change programs and designing and leading IT delivery at very large scale in complex, multi-stakeholder business environments.