Civil Aviation Authority

Yesterday was a great opportunity to bring my team at the Civil Aviation Authority together to focus on collaboration, strategic planning, and our wider objectives. A huge thank you to Harriet , Isabel & Shirley at Darktrace for hosting us in London during the morning. It was a good opportunity to step away from the day-to-day, align on priorities, and spend some dedicated time together as a team. The afternoon was then spent at the Darktrace LIVE London 2026 at Emirates Stadium ( Arsenal Football Club ), focussed on evolving AI and cyber security landscape. I also had the opportunity to join the panel discussion on securing AI and the shift towards a more adaptive, responsive security culture -more news soon! A really interesting conversation around how organisations balance innovation, governance, resilience, and evolving threat landscapes as AI adoption accelerates (at pace!) A valuable day with good conversations, strong engagement across the team, and plenty of useful insights to take forward - Shaun , Dan , Matangi, Martyn , Patrick , James , Sarah , Ketan , Mia , Greater , Dave .

Just back from #CYBERUK 2026 and one message cut through clearly: “The cyber security of British business is a matter of national security.” That framing from the Security Minister set the tone. This is no longer just a technology issue. It’s about economic stability, operational resilience, and national security. It was great to represent the Civil Aviation Authority with colleagues Simon S and Emma H . A few takeaways that landed for me: - Resilience is now the benchmark: “Not if, but when” is fully embedded, the real differentiator is how well we detect, respond, and recover. - AI is changing the attack model at pace: We’re seeing increasingly automated, end-to-end attack chains, shifting defence towards behavioural detection and speed. - We’re still not consistently getting the basics right: Strong message from National Cyber Security Centre , cyber hygiene is the baseline, yet it remains one of the biggest gaps. - Culture is a control: Simple. - Cyber Security is a team sport: Real resilience depends on partnership, information sharing, and trust built before incidents occur. - Face-to-face still matters: Useful to spend time with existing partners and challenge new capabilities directly, far easier to separate substance from hype and focus on what will genuinely improve outcomes. For me, this year is crucial and I’m part of an amazing team to deliver this message: ‘Cyber Security strategy only matters if it delivers real operational capability, strong culture, and resilience at pace’.

I’m aware I haven’t posted anything of substance on here for a while so I’m back with a bang - I promise to the person that asked - I’m ok and have just been busy busy busy 🐝 It’s been a great start to the year and the Resourcing Team continue to produce the amazing…..We’ve just delivered a successful graduate assessment centre(s) which resulted in 8 offers - positive feedback from onboarding candidates and hiring managers continues to pour in - vital Senior recruitment is either complete or well underway - implementation of leadership competencies is starting with Kelly Tallis drafting impressive interview questions - Grzegorz Pajak Assoc. CIPD and Anita Dennington ’s track record of recruiting scarce skills roles is exemplary and thank you cards and award nominations are a regular occurrence. Today was all about celebrating success and planning future delivery of annual strategic objectives. As a People & Culture Directorate we held a quarterly meeting where we heard about how the UK Civil Aviation Authority is funded, how we evaluate all roles across the organisation and a look forward to explore what we have committed to deliver as a department. We planted sunflower seeds to represent our own growth over the next 12 months and the goals we will set ourselves individually and as a team - I’m not overly hopeful mine will bloom (my sunflower - not my career 😉) as I’ve never been able to keep a house plant alive let alone a seed……🤦🏼♂️ Then the Resouring Team (4 out of 6) went out for lunch on Helen Mallison (Chartered FCIPD) to celebrate everything we have achieved so far - it’s always good to take a breath and look back at what we have done well and even talk about what can we do better next time - it always helps if food is involved and a couple of Peroni Zero’s 😉 We missed Anita Dennington and Kieron Davis and won’t be long until we are all back together 🤞🏻but they were very thoughtful and provided the sweet treats for the day. Let’s finish off the week strong and meet back on Monday to do it all over again 😉👌🏻😎 #ResourcingRocks

After an extraordinary 13-year journey, the moment has come for me to step away from the Civil Aviation Authority, with my final working day on 31st July. Looking back, I feel a deep sense of pride in what we have accomplished together. None of it was achieved alone—it has been the collective dedication, expertise, and spirit of this team that made it possible. The Aviation Security community, alongside our colleagues across the wider CAA, represents something truly special: professionalism, integrity, and a shared commitment to making a difference. What I will miss most is the people. It has been a genuine privilege to work alongside such talented, committed, and thoroughly enjoyable colleagues. Few roles offer the chance to see, week in and week out, the real-world impact of your work—but at the CAA, that impact is undeniable. Every one of you contributes to something that matters. While I am leaving the organisation, I am not leaving Aviation Security. I will continue this journey through consulting with Drissell Consulting Ltd, and I very much hope our paths will continue to cross in the future. Thank you for the support, the camaraderie, and the shared purpose over these past 13 years. It has been an incredible journey—one I will always value. Peter