Lesley Cowley, OBE, MBA - Chief Executive
Under Lesley’s leadership, Nominet has become a trusted guardian of a vital part of the UK internet economy, providing services that are relied upon by millions of businesses and consumers. This success has enabled over £20m to be donated to its charitable foundation – Nominet Trust.
Respected within the international internet community, Lesley is Chair of ICANN’s Country Code Names Supporting Organisation. She is an advocate for the multi-stakeholder model of internet governance, and represents Nominet at a range of global events and forums.
Lesley was awarded an OBE for services to the Internet and e-commerce in 2011. In July 2012, Computer Weekly named Lesley as one of the top three most influential women in IT. In 2011, she also received a special commendation in the IOD’s Director of the Year Awards, and won the IOD Chairman's Award for London and South East.
Lesley is a fellow of a number of respected bodies including; the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce; The Institute of Directors; The British Computer Society; The Institute of Credit Management and The Chartered Management Institute. She is a Freeman at The Worshipful Company of Information Technologists, a Member of The Inspirational Women Network, and a STEM Ambassador to schools.
Lesley has been Chief Executive of Nominet since 2002.
Alex Blowers - Director of Legal and Policy
Alex joined Nominet in January 2011 as Director of Legal and Policy. Prior to this, Alex was International Director at Ofcom, responsible for Ofcom’s engagement with key international institutions and for negotiations within the European Union. He also was the Project Director for the Strategic Review of Telecommunications completed by Ofcom in 2005.
Alex’s early career was spent in the public sector. In 1991, he joined the DTI team implementing the Duopoly Review, and spent three years at Oftel in the mid-1990s working on strategic market-opening projects. Alex also worked on competition policy issues at the DTI, and on European policy issues at the Cabinet Office. Before joining Ofcom, Alex spent six years with the cable company NTL, latterly as Director of Regulatory Affairs.
Eleanor Bradley - Chief Operating Officer
Eleanor is responsible for operations and corporate services at Nominet - this includes customer service, dispute resolution, policy development, and the finance, legal and HR functions.
She also leads Nominet’s business continuity and risk management team, key areas of focus in a company operating at the heart of the UK Internet.
Eleanor has 15 years experience in the internet industry with a focus on customer service, continuous improvement and stakeholder engagement.
She has been an Executive Director since December 2012.
Gill Crowther – Director of HR
Gill joined Nominet in June 2007 where she introduced a successful employee engagement strategy to make the company an employer of choice, while helping everyone to be as productive, challenged and fulfilled as possible while at work.
Prior to joining Nominet Gill worked as a leadership and management development consultant. She has more than 10 years HR experience gained in a variety of roles at Microsoft, GlaxoWelcome and Ford Motor Company. Gill is a chartered member of the CIPD and an Engineering and Business Studies graduate of Warwick University. Gill is also a school governor.
Jill Finney – Chief Commercial Officer
Jill is responsible for building on Nominet's strengths as an internationally-respected registry and managing our response to the challenges and opportunities from a liberalised domain name market. She manages Nominet’s existing route-to-market, including relationships with channel partners, and leads our marketing and communication.
Jill has extensive experience in marketing and communications spanning a number of industries, both in the public and private sector.
After working in the food manufacturing and distribution industry early in her career, Jill joined Ernst & Young as their UK Marketing Director where she served on the company's Global Marketing Council.
Following this, Jill was Strategic Marketing and Communications Director for The British Library. She was responsible for the successful opening of an award-winning Business and Intellectual Property Centre, which allowed the British Library to move into a completely new market and now serves 60,000 entrepreneurs a year.
Jill joined Nominet in March 2013 from the Care Quality Commission, where she was Deputy Chief Executive.
Glenn Hayward – Director of Finance
Glenn was appointed Director of Finance in 2008 and also takes responsibility for Nominet's Business Development and Business Analysis functions.
Prior to Nominet, Glenn was the Finance Director for the SME division of Northgate Information Solutions. He has also performed senior finance and analysis roles for Psion, Go Fly, easyJet and worked in the Assurance and Business Advisory division of Arthur Andersen.
Glenn qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1998.
Phil Kingsland - Director of Marketing and Communications
Phil joined Nominet in 2006 as Director of Marketing and Communications. He is responsible for developing and implementing our marketing and communications strategy, raising the profile of .uk and our other Top Level Domains and defining our position in the global internet industry.
Prior to Nominet, Phil spent seven years with management and technology consultancy, Axon Group plc, where he was Head of Marketing, working with a range of blue chip clients. Previously he spent time leading the sales and marketing of London-based 3D Scanners Ltd and started his career with Renishaw plc.
Phil has a joint Masters in Mechanical Engineering and Management from Birmingham University.
Simon McCalla - Chief Technology Officer
Simon leads the team responsible for the technology behind Nominet’s world class registry services, providing a vital resource on which millions of businesses and individuals depend.
Building on Nominet’s expertise with the Domain Name System, Simon provides technical leadership within the UK and international internet communities, regularly representing Nominet with technical, government and media audiences. In 2011, Simon co-ordinated an international review of the security and stability of the global Domain Name System.
Tasked with driving Nominet’s diversification, Simon has introduced a new emphasis on technical research and development. Under his direction, Nominet’s Research labs have developed technology that allowed them to identify a major bug in the global internet infrastructure.
Simon is a fellow of the British Computer Society, and has over 20 years experience overseeing information technology for global enterprises across retail, entertainment and consultancy sectors.
Simon joined the Board of Nominet as an Executive Director in November 2012.