Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

Richard Derek Leaman, (born 27 July 1956) is a British charity executive and former senior

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

officer. Since 2021, he has been Diocesan Secretary and CEO of the Diocese of Bristol. He was previously CEO of

The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, known colloquially as Guide Dogs, is a British charitable organization, charitable organisation that uses guide dogs to help blind and partially blind people. The organisation also participates in pol ...

(2010 to 2016) and CEO of the Tall Ships Youth Trust (2017 to 2020).

Early life and education

Leaman was born on 29 July 1956 in Lynton, Devon, England, to Derek Alan Leaman and Jean Rita Leaman. He was educated at Torquay Boys' Grammar School, an all-boys

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

Torquay Torquay ( ) is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies south of the county town of Exeter and east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paignt ...

, Devon. Later in life, he studied at

Manchester Business School Alliance Manchester Business School (Alliance MBS) is the business school of the University of Manchester in Manchester, England. It is one of the oldest business schools in the UK, and provides education to undergraduates, postgraduates and e ...

and completed the Advanced Management Achievement Course in 2010.

Career

Military career

In 1975, Leaman began one years training at the

Britannia Royal Naval College Britannia Royal Naval College Dartmouth, also known as Dartmouth, is the naval academy of the United Kingdom and the initial officer training establishment of the Royal Navy. It is located on a hill overlooking the port of Dartmouth, Devon, En ...

. He was commissioned into the

in 1976. On 1 January 1980, he was promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

and granted seniority in that rank from 1 March 1979. In 1982, he attended the Principal warfare officer Course and won the Edgerton Gunnery Prize; he was the youngest ever PWO. He was promoted to lieutenant commander on 1 March 1987, to

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

in 1991, and to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

in 1996. He commanded the

offshore patrol vessel A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defence, border security, or law enforcement. There are many designs for patrol boats, and th ...

HMS ''Dumbarton Castle'' from 1991 to 1992, the

Type 42 destroyer The Type 42 or ''Sheffield'' class was a class of fourteen guided-missile destroyers that served in the Royal Navy.Marriott, Leo: ''Royal Navy Destroyers since 1945'', , Ian Allan Ltd, 1989 A further two ships of this class were built for and ...

HMS ''Cardiff'' from 1993 to 1994, and

Type 22 frigate The Type 22 frigate also known as the ''Broadsword'' class was a ship class, class of frigates built for the British Royal Navy. Fourteen were built in total, with production divided into three batches. Initially intended to be anti-submarine ...

HMS ''Cumberland'' from 1999 to 2000. In 2000, having attended the

Higher Command and Staff Course The Higher Command and Staff Course is a staff course for senior military officers of the United Kingdom armed forces and allies. It is taught at the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom in Shrivenham, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom. The course is ...

, Leaman was promoted to

commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (India), in India ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ' ...

. He served as Director of communications for the Royal Navy from 2000 to 2001, Commander of the UK Maritime Task Group (COMUKTG) from 2002 to 2003, and Director of the Higher Command and Staff Course from 2003 to 2005. After attending the Defence Strategic Leadership Course, he was promoted to

rear admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

on 6 September 2005. He served as

Chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

at the

Allied Maritime Command Naples Allied Maritime Command (MC) Naples (MC Naples) was a subordinate command of Allied Joint Force Command Naples. MC Naples operated from the island of Nisida in the Gulf of Pozzuoli and its commander reported directly to the Commander Allied Joint ...

from 2005 to 2007, and as Deputy Chief of Staff at

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

Strategic Command in

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

, United States from 2007 to 2009. Leaman officially retired from the Royal Navy on 31 March 2010.

Later career

In January 2010, Leaman was announced as the next chief executive officer of

in succession to Bridget Warr. He took up the position in April 2010. Since 2012, he has also been a

trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, refers to anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the ...

of the

National Council for Voluntary Organisations The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) is the umbrella body for the voluntary and community sector in England. It is a registered charity (no. 225922). It works to support the voluntary and community sector and to create an en ...

(NCVO). During his time as CEO of Guide Dogs, he "increased the number of service users by 50%, and overseen double-digit fundraising growth". He stepped down as CEO of Guide Dogs in 2016. In 2017, he became chief executive of the Tall Ships Youth Trust. In January 2022, he took up the role of Diocesan Secretary and CEO at the

Diocese of Bristol The Diocese of Bristol is an ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Church of England in the Province of Canterbury, England. It is based in the city of Bristol and covers South Gloucestershire and parts of north Wiltshire, as far east ...

in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

Personal life

In 2017, Leaman married Dr Jacqueline Anne Grey. He has two sons, Adrian and Nicholas, from his first marriage

Honours

In the 1993 Queen's Birthday Honours, Leaman was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) "for disaster relief services after

Hurricane Andrew Hurricane Andrew was a compact, but very powerful and devastating tropical cyclone that struck the Bahamas, Florida, and Louisiana in August 1992. It was the most destructive hurricane to ever hit Florida in terms of structures dama ...

". In the

2010 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2010 were announced on 31 December 2009 in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Cook Islands, Barbados, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Saint Lucia, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Christopher and NevisSaint Chris ...

, he was appointed a

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregi ...

(CB) "for his work on international maritime security".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leaman, Richard 1956 births Living people Royal Navy rear admirals British chief executives British charity and campaign group workers Officers of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Order of the Bath Military personnel from Devon People educated at Torquay Boys' Grammar School Graduates of Britannia Royal Naval College