Christopher Starling MBE
Operations Manager – Crewshield
Christopher Michael Starling MBE is a core strategic decision maker with an impressive leadership and management pedigree having served for nearly three decades with the British Royal Marine Commandos. He is the Operations Manager at Crewshield, responsible for managing production and ensuring projects are maintained to the highest level of productivity of resources and quality of product to our customers.
Having been nationally recognised and appointed as a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for his work within the human resources realm, Christopher has a proven ability to lead, manage and prioritise across a breadth of streams including logistics, human resources, training and military operations.
Christopher’s professional career began in 1989 and spanned 16 years in the Royal Marine within the 3 Commando Brigade units and other formations. During his position in the Royal Marine, Christopher served globally on operations and exercises, which included operational tours of Northern Ireland, Kuwait, and Iraq during the 2003 invasion as well as amphibious exercises to the Mediterranean, USA, and to the Far East as part of the deployed forces supporting the handover of Hong Kong. At the age of 32 he was promoted ahead of peers through to the rank of Colour Sergeant.
In 2005 Christopher side-stepped to the Royal Marines Officer Training as a Staff Officer for the Late Entry Course at the Commando Training Centre Royal Marines in Exmouth, England. He was selected for commissioning from a Corps of approximately 6000. Concurrently between 2005 and 2006, Christopher scaled further in the human resources sphere as a Specialist Human Resources Manger at 42 Commando Royal Marines in Plymouth. It was in this position which saw him lead the unit HR department, with the additional responsibility as the unit Bereavement and Visiting Officer.
As part of his responsibility for the delivery of leadership training to all new entry Royal Naval Officers, International Officers and Royal Naval professional Officers, Christopher was made Leadership, Training and Program Delivery Manager at Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth in 2008. He trained over a third of all current Royal Naval Officers – which included teaching the Law of Armed Conflict and the Realities of War to all new officers.
Moving onto 2009, Christopher held the position of Specialist Human Resources Manager at the Naval Command HQ in Portsmouth for two years. He oversaw the ‘recovery pathway’ of all Royal Marines from point of wounding to discharge from hospital or when they were laid to rest. His tenure covered a period of significant fighting in Afghanistan which led to many deaths and complex double and triple amputees.
From 2011 and 2013, Christopher ascended to Director of Logistics, Human Resources and Fleet Management at the 30 Commando Information Exploitation Group Royal Marines in Plymouth. He was responsible for the management, maintenance, provision, and accountability of all unit equipment and material to a value in excess of £250 million, including the control of all ammunitions and explosives.
Between 2013 and 2015, he held the position of Director of Human Resources and Talent Management at the Naval Command Headquarters and then became a Military Scholar at The Defence Academy in Shrivenham.
It was in 2015 till his present position at Crewshield, where Christopher headed operations and logistics in full force. As the Operators and Planning Manager with the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission (MONUSCO) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, he was deployed as the Senior Military Liaison Officer between the 3* Force HQ and the Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) section of MONUSCO. He instigated, developed, and led the DDR weapons destruction programs, which concluded with financial and material returns for the affected Congolese communities.
From 2016 till 2017 Christopher became the Director of Logistics at the Commander United Kingdom Amphibious Force where he provided advice and liaised with all Ministry of Defence, NATO, EU, UN and Foreign Military authorities with regard to theatre early entry requirements, including Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR).
Since 2017 Christopher has been a pillar to Crewshield’s operations by leading the production team in line with industry best practices, yielding growth and development for the company worldwide.
Christopher’s formal educational qualifications include obtaining Masters Degrees in Leadership and Management as well as Human Resources Management in 2013, both from City and Guilds Institute. Christopher also honed his specialism in human dynamics with a Prevention of Harassment and Sexual Harassment and Abuse in the Workplace accreditation recognised by the United Nations. He is also a Master Practitioner of Neuro Linguistic Programming and a Certified Coach and Mentor.
