Mike DempseyDefence logistics, munitions and supply chain
Operations and supply chain leadership. Transformation and assurance at scale.
Army lead on a £6.5bn contract reset. £3.6bn of assets held with zero loss. Assurance raised from Limited to Substantial.
Seeking a permanent operations or supply chain directorship.
Mike Dempsey has led large-scale operations, supply chain, transformation and assurance across the British Army and the Ministry of Defence. He was the Army's lead on the reset of the £6.5bn LCST logistics contract, set to deliver £300m in efficiencies. He directed Defence Munitions Kineton, Europe's largest munitions site, holding over 500 staff and £3.6bn of assets with zero loss and taking the site to ISO 9001 accreditation. He raised the Army's overall Defence assurance assessment from Limited to Substantial.
Four strands run through the work: operations, running sites and services at scale; supply chain, from stockpile planning to contract delivery; transformation, redesigning how organisations and their information systems work; and assurance, proving to a board that they do. He spent his career as the intelligent customer, setting requirements and holding major suppliers to account, and is now moving to the supplier side of that relationship.
Army Strategic Envoy
Army lead on the £6.5bn LCST contract reset
The record, across 37 years
- £6.5bnLCST logistics contract. Army Strategic Envoy for its reset, which is set to deliver £300m in efficiencies.
- Limited to SubstantialArmy-wide Defence assurance assessment, raised by overhauling end-to-end assurance processes as principal auditor to the Army Board.
- £4.8bnten-year Army munitions stockpile plan, shaped as a core member of the central munitions planning group.
- £3.6bnof munitions inventory held at Kineton with zero loss and full audit compliance. The MOD's highest-value stock holding.
- Four servicesArmy, Navy, RAF and Strategic Command stockpile requirements consolidated as Lead Command for General Munitions, enforcing affordability across the ten-year plan.
- 60% to over 99%munitions inventory accuracy at Kineton, raised from a stock accounting error rate of over 40% to under 1%.
- 130,000+users reached by a new personal clothing system, procured and rolled out Army-wide.
- Programme ABELProgramme Director and Senior Responsible Owner for the MOD's future ammunition procurement programme, taking the business case through two-tier investment committees and overseeing the move to the Next Generation Munitions Solution.
- Over 500staff led at Kineton, drawn from the Army, Navy, RAF, Civil Service, Defence Fire Service, MOD Police, contractors and industry partners.
- Top Commanding Officerin Defence Equipment and Support, assessed across the whole organisation, while holding three concurrent appointments at Kineton.
- ISO 9001accreditation achieved at Kineton, embedding quality assurance across all site operations.
- White Paperco-authored the Army's Ammunition Capability White Paper, which directly influenced MOD investment in a new UK explosives filling facility.
- £45mof invested assets and the annual spend on charity and Corps activities, governance shared as a Trustee of the Royal Logistic Corps Fund.
- 15,000+ tonnesof returned munitions reconditioned for reuse by the processing facility his unit ran on the UN mission in Bosnia.
Operations Director · Kineton
Over 500 staff. Europe's largest munitions site
Career
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January – May 2026
Contract assignments, direct and through a specialist agency
Consultant (contract), Defence Supply Chain and Bid Support
Bid consultant to a defence prime, contributing operational, supply chain and customer-side expertise to a competitive Ministry of Defence support bid. Supply chain policy consultant on assignment to a global professional services firm, supporting a Middle East defence client on national supply chain policy.
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September 2023 – March 2026
British Army Headquarters, Andover · held as Deputy Army Inspector, Colonel
Director of Governance, Risk & Assurance
Principal auditor and strategic advisor to the Army Board, leading independent assurance, quality and continuous improvement across all high-risk Army operations. Acting Army Inspector for four months. Represented the Army Inspector at Army Board level and controlled the Inspectorate's assurance programme of work. Instigated the Army Assurance Conference to report the Army's current assurance standing to the senior stakeholder community and set the strategic roadmap and intent for raising the level of assurance. Led deep-dive reviews to enable continuous improvement across high-risk Army operations. Member of the Army Audit, Risk and Assurance Committee, the equivalent of a corporate audit and risk committee. Led third-party assurance and corporate governance against statutory, regulatory and policy frameworks. Overhauled the Army's end-to-end assurance processes, raising the overall Defence assessment from Limited to Substantial.
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January 2019 – August 2023
British Army Headquarters, Andover · held as Assistant Head Logistic Support, Colonel
Head of Operations & Service Delivery
Head of logistic support policy and delivery for the Army across the Defence Supply Chain, covering ammunition, commodities, fuel, food, postal, transport, movement and dangerous goods. Led a specialist team of over 60, including nine department heads at Lieutenant Colonel level. Army Strategic Envoy for the reset of the Leidos-delivered LCST contract, set to deliver £300m in efficiencies, and managed LCST change requests with the contractor. Managed the Command Acquisition Support Plans, the annual customer agreements with Defence Equipment and Support, engaging and influencing stakeholders at all levels. Identified logistic support risks and escalated them through the Army Support Risk Board, from tactical to strategic level. Acted as intelligent customer to Defence Equipment and Support as manager of the Weapons and Defence General Munitions annex of the annual customer agreement, holding its delivery centres to account. Programme Director and Senior Responsible Owner for Programme ABEL, the MOD's future ammunition procurement programme, overseeing the introduction of the Next Generation Munitions Solution to replace the incumbent munitions supply contract and setting the segmented sourcing and category management strategy. Shaped the Army's £4.8bn ten-year stockpile plan. As Lead Command for General Munitions, consolidated requirements across the Army, Navy, RAF and Strategic Command. Co-authored the Ammunition Capability White Paper, which influenced MOD investment in a new UK explosives filling facility.
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September 2016 – December 2018
Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S), Bristol · held as Head of Customer Strategy and Supply Chain Controls, Colonel
Head of Operational Performance & Customer Delivery
Established a new director-level support chain controls function, integrating demand intake, matrix management and functional alignment into a single programme. Developed the support chain controls operating model for the Support Enabling Operating Centre, implemented it and took it to Full Operational Capability, bringing coherence and control to the centre's programme of work. Selected to lead the business unit's change programme, aligning organisational design and working practices with agency-wide transformation. Directed the Business Modernisation and Support team through the foundation phase of Defence Support Transformation. Led information architects and business analysts unifying logistics information systems across the Army, Navy and RAF. Managed the annual customer agreement between the armed services and the agency.
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February – August 2016
EU Training Mission Somalia, Mogadishu · Lieutenant Colonel
Chief Logistics Advisor
Led a multinational team advising senior Somali National Army and Ministry of Defence officials on end-to-end support operations. Operated with full autonomy and no day-to-day direction, far from UK headquarters in a high-threat environment. Established the mission's Support Working Group, aligning international efforts behind a unified approach to defence logistics. Received a distinguished service award from the head of the Somali National Army.
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January 2013 – January 2016
Defence Munitions Kineton, Warwickshire · Lieutenant Colonel
Operations Director
Three concurrent appointments: Commanding Officer, Ammunition Technical Support Group; Head of Establishment, Defence Munitions Kineton; and Station Commander.
Europe's largest munitions storage and maintenance facility. Accountable for £3.6bn of inventory with zero loss and full audit compliance. Raised inventory accuracy from 60% to over 99%. Adopted a sales and operations planning (S&OP) approach to drive workforce and operating cost efficiencies. Appointed the first Delivery Duty Holder under the new DE&S Safety Construct, the legally accountable safety role. Ran the Defence Munitions Safety Leadership Day, cited as the best event across the entire command. Achieved ISO 9001 accreditation, embedding quality assurance across site operations. Assessed as the top Commanding Officer in Defence Equipment and Support.
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January 2012 – January 2013
British Army Headquarters, Andover · held as Chief SO1 Logistic Support, Lieutenant Colonel
Senior Staff Officer, Logistic Support Branch
Senior of nine department heads in the logistic support function, deputising for the Assistant Head. Lead architect of the annual customer agreement with DE&S, setting yearly requirements and enforcing accountability through availability working groups. Established the Army's supply chain team for MJDI, the MOD's joint inventory management system. Established the Army's Ammunition Team, which took on all responsibility for the management of Army General Munitions. Oversaw procurement and Army-wide rollout of a new personal clothing system to over 130,000 users.
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September 1989 – January 2012
British Army
Earlier career
Qualified as an Ammunition Technical Officer in 1996. Led a munitions unit on the UN mission in Bosnia that ran the Returned Ammunition Group Processing Facility, which reconditioned more than 15,000 tonnes of munitions for return to the supply chain. Planned the deployment, storage and maintenance of munitions for the NATO mission in Kosovo and a major joint exercise in Oman, then planned and dispatched munitions to the British Army training unit in Canada and the first UK deployment to Afghanistan. Further roles included unit command, officer commanding a specialist helicopter handling unit, senior instructor in logistics officer training, second-in-command of a training unit and change manager on a major defence logistics IT programme.
Commercial titles are shown where they differ from the held military appointment, with the held title given beneath. Verified service titles are available for vetting and reference checks.
Army Headquarters
Assurance raised from Limited to Substantial
Qualifications
Professional
- Ammunition Technical Officer (ATO), 1996. The Army's professional qualification in explosives safety, munitions storage regulation and hazardous materials management
- Qualified in conventional munitions explosive ordnance disposal
- Change Management Registered Practitioner, APMG International, 2011
Academic
- Advanced Management Achievement Course, Alliance Manchester Business School, University of Manchester, 2025. Three-week executive education programme for officers moving into management and executive careers
- Graduateship (GCGI) in Explosive Technology, Cranfield University, 1996. Benchmarked to bachelor's degree level
- Advanced Command and Staff Course, Joint Services Command and Staff College, 2011–12. One-year postgraduate programme in strategy, leadership and resource management
- Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, commissioned 1989
MOD's highest value inventory
Custodian of £3.6bn munitions inventory
The questions people actually ask
What does Mike Dempsey do?
He leads large-scale operations, supply chain, transformation and assurance. He directed Defence Munitions Kineton, Europe's largest munitions site, holding over 500 staff and £3.6bn of assets with zero loss and taking the site to ISO 9001 accreditation. He was the Army's lead on the reset of the £6.5bn LCST logistics contract, and raised the Army's overall Defence assurance assessment from Limited to Substantial. He is now looking for a permanent operations or service delivery directorship with a large service provider.
Has he managed a profit and loss account?
No, and it is the honest gap. He has held budget accountability at £4.8bn plan level and £3.6bn of assets, and he has run a major contract from the customer side of the table. Commercial profit and loss is the thing he wants to add, and it is the reason a first commercial role matters more to him than a title.
Why did he leave the British Army?
Thirty-seven years is the natural end of the career, and he reached it as a Colonel in March 2026. He left to do the delivery job in a commercial setting rather than to retire.
Has he ever won work as a supplier?
Not from the supplier side until recently. Every day of his Army career was customer-side, which is unusual and valuable: he has sat on the panel that scores major competitions and knows what a customer actually weighs. In early 2026 he worked as a bid consultant to a defence prime on a competitive Ministry of Defence support bid. Business winning from the supplier side is the part he is deliberately building.
Can he lead without rank?
For most of the last decade he did exactly that. At Kineton he led a whole-force team of over 500 drawn from the Army, Navy, RAF, Civil Service, Defence Fire Service, MOD Police, contractors and industry partners, across multiple styles of employment contract and trade unions.
Where is he willing to work?
UK-wide, with travel. He is open to international roles for the right opportunity.
Defence Munitions Kineton
Inventory accuracy from 60% to over 99%
Get in touch
Conversations about permanent operations and service delivery directorships are welcome. Email is the quickest route and reaches him directly.