Graham Love (born 18 March 1954) was the

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of the defence contractor, QinetiQ Group plc. He is a graduate of

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

and a chartered accountant. In the late 1980s he was part of the senior management team that expanded

Weber Shandwick Weber Shandwick is a marketing communications firm formed in 2001 by merging the Weber Group, Shandwick International and BSMG. The company is part of global agency network Interpublic Group (IPG), as part of the parent company's IPG DXTRA opera ...

through a major acquisition programme involving the purchase of over 30

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. P ...

agencies worldwide acting as its finance director. In 1992, Love joined the UK Government's

Defence Research Agency The Defence Research Agency (DRA) was an executive agency of the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) from April 1991 until April 1995. At the time, the DRA was Britain's largest science and technology organisation. In April 1995, the DRA was combined wi ...

as Finance Director and continued in the role when the agency expanded into

Defence Evaluation and Research Agency The Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) was a part of the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) between 1995 and 2 July 2001. At the time it was the United Kingdom's largest science and technology organisation. It was regarded by its official hi ...

(DERA). He was appointed Managing Director of the support services division (DSSD) in 1995. Two years later, he led the successful buy-out of DSSD from DERA to form Comax Secure Business Services Ltd. He subsequently led the team which negotiated the sale of Comax to

Amey plc Amey plc, previously known as Amey Ltd and Amey Roadstone Construction, is a United Kingdom-based infrastructure support service provider. Amey was founded by William Charles Amey in 1921. The firm grew rapidly during the Second World War via g ...

. In 2001, Love rejoined DERA as

Chief Financial Officer The chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization that is assigned the primary responsibility for managing the company's finances, including financial planning, management of financial risks, record-keeping, and financ ...

, subsequently playing a key role in the formation of QinetiQ and the sale of a controlling interest to The

Carlyle Group The Carlyle Group is a multinational private equity, alternative asset management and financial services corporation based in the United States with $376 billion of assets under management. It specializes in private equity, real assets, and pri ...

. Controversially, his £106,000 investment in the company was later worth £20m at flotation. In 2005, Love became Chief Executive of QinetiQ, as the company moved to IPO. In October 2009, Love resigned his position after an official report into the crash of an ageing British Nimrod Maritime Patrol Aircraft over

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

in 2006, which killed 14 people, found that QinetiQ bore some of the blame for the mistakes that led to the crash. Love then joined LGC as Chairman. He was on the Board of STEMNET (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Network) and the Advisory Board of SEMTA (Sector Skills Council for Science, Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies) and is a Senior Adviser at the Chertoff Group (a strategic advisory group focused on security, intelligence and government services). Graham has also been chairman of Racing Green Cars, Eversholt Rail Group,

SLR Consulting SLR Consulting is a privately owned international sustainability consultancy with offices in Europe, North America, South America, Australasia, and Africa. In 2019, it reported revenues of £150.8 million. Its purpose is ‘Making Sustainability ...

Group, 2E2, Xendo, Hanson Wade and The Royal Mint. He is a trustee and chair of the audit committee at MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Love, Graham Carvell English chief executives 1954 births Living people Qinetiq Alumni of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge Chief financial officers