Meet The Team

Alistair joined Ocean Safety as General Manager in 2006 and was appointed Managing Director in 2018.

A member of the RORC Special Regulations Committee, Alistair also sits on the World Sailing Safety Committee. During his time at Ocean Safety, Alistair has managed the safety training for the last four Volvo Ocean Races.

Prior to joining Ocean Safety, Alistair was the Logistics Director at The Challenge Business and was involved in the support of all 51 Global Challenge circumnavigations. In addition, Alistair provided technical support to Dee Caffari’s single handed circumnavigation against the prevailing winds and currents in 2005/6.

Mark joined Ocean Safety in 2017 as Sales Manager and was appointed Sales Director in 2019.

A marine industry veteran, Mark has over thirty years experience in distribution, service and supply of marine and safety equipment. Heading up Ocean Safety’s commercial and leisure sales teams, Mark is also instrumental in the development of Ocean Safety’s range of lifesaving innovative products.

Prior to joining Ocean Safety, Mark was Sales Director at XM Yachting and Commercial Director at Sea Sure.

Dan Merritt joined Ocean Safety in 2009 as Operations Manager, progressing to Operations Director in 2021.

With his team, Dan is responsible for logistics, stock control, productions, equipment servicing and hire across all four of Ocean Safety’s branches in Southampton, Greenock, Plymouth and Aberdeen.

Prior to joining Ocean Safety, Dan was a warehouse manager for a pharmaceutical company where he gained extensive logistics experience, as well as experience working with hazardous goods.

Ben joined Ocean Safety in 2015 as Sales Account Manager before being promoted to North of England Commercial Account Manager for both Ocean Safety and Typhoon International.

With a wealth of experience in both leisure and commercial marine markets, Ben’s primary focus is working with accounts in the renewable and offshore energy markets, blue light, rescue, safety organisations and commercial re-sellers.

Prior to joining Ocean Safety, Ben held sales roles in companies in various sectors including the marine industry’s Marathon Leisure and Navimo.

Richard joins Ocean Safety as International Commercial Sales Manager, with 20 years plus in the marine industry, Richard brings extensive marine and sales experience to his role where he will specialise in commercial safety equipment sales, with a particular focus on integrating the Challenger lifejacket range into Ocean Safety’s portfolio of vital lifesaving equipment.

Before joining the Alliance Marine Group in 2014, Richard spent 16 years at luxury motor yacht builder Sealine International where he progressed from Parts Manager to Sales Operations Manager, gaining valuable sales and management skills.

Jamie joined Ocean Safety in 2023 as Technical Manager.

Leading our technical & training teams in Southampton, Jamie brings extensive knowledge in marine product design, innovation and development, and his experience will reinforce our leadership position in the commercial, military and leisure marine sectors.

Prior to joining Ocean Safety, Jamie held the position of Engineering Manager at Crewsaver and Global Product Design Engineer at Mustang Survival.

Mary joined Ocean Safety in 2023 as Sales Office Manager.

Based in the Southampton headquarters, Mary is responsible for the management of Ocean Safety’s internal sales teams across the leisure, commercial and military sectors. Prior to joining Ocean Safety, Mary was the Commercial Sales & Studio Manager at Kahrs UK.

Richard joined Ocean Safety in 2017 as Senior Buyer and was appointed Procurement Manager in 2018.

Based in Ocean Safety’s Southampton branch and with a wealth of experience in procurement in retail and distribution businesses, Richard heads up the procurement team at Ocean Safety, sourcing a varied portfolio of safety products in support of the changing needs of the customer base.

Prior to joining Ocean Safety, Richard held procurement roles in various sectors, including aviation, beauty and bathrooms.

David initially joined Ocean Safety in 1999 and was a valued member of the team until 2008. Remaining in the marine safety sector during his absence, David returned to Ocean Safety as Service Manager in 2017.

Based in Ocean Safety’s Southampton branch, David manages the servicing team and all Ocean Safety’s service capabilities in the busy Southampton office.

With extensive experience in the fire suppression systems, prior to working at Ocean Safety David worked for Chubb Fire Security and was a service manager for LSA service equipment, where he gained comprehensive knowledge of the servicing of liferafts, lifejackets and EPIRBs.

Iain joined Ocean Safety’s in 2007 as Sales Co-ordinator in Greenock, working his way up to Branch Operations Supervisor in in 2019 and then stepping up to Branch Operations Manager in 2021.

Based in Ocean Safety’s Greenock branch, Iain oversees the running of the servicing department and the regional hiring of liferafts. In addition, Iain is responsible for stock management, sales order entry, answering general enquiries as well as looking after the Greenock team.

With 27 years marine industry experience, prior to joining Ocean Safety Iain worked as a rigger for 12 years, a role which took him all over the world from Antigua to Australia.

Amy joined Alliance Marine UK as the Group’s Marketing and Communications Manager in 2018.

Based mainly in Ocean Safety’s Southampton branch, Amy is responsible for, and manages, all the marketing and communications across the Alliance Marine UK brands of Ocean Safety, Typhoon International and Revere Survival.

Working in the marine industry since 2001, prior to joining Alliance Marine UK Amy was PR and Sponsorship Manager at Henri Lloyd. Amy was also part of the marketing and sponsorship team at sports marketing agency Fasttrack, where she worked predominantly on the Volvo Car UK and Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship accounts.

Jesús ‘Suso’ López joined Ocean Safety in 2018 as its Sales Representative in Spain.

With 20 years of experience of the marine leisure and commercial market, Jesús manages the ACR network and all Spanish and Portuguese accounts including service stations, ship chandleries and shipyards.

Prior to joining Ocean Safety, Jesús worked as a Sales Manager for Cosalt Marine, a safety and survival specialist, prior to its acquisition by the Survitec Group.

Phil joined Ocean Safety in 2021 as Sales Coordinator, quickly stepping up to the position of Southern Area Commercial Sales Manager.

With many years working in the marine industry, Phil uses his experience to drive sales and offer vital support to Ocean Safety’s customers in the shipping, commercial fishing, superyacht, ferry and shipbuilding sectors in the busy south of England region.

Prior to joining Ocean Safety, Phil spent ten years in Sales and Operations at Lymington Yacht Charters.

Doug joined Ocean Safety in 2017 as Regional Sales Manager in Scotland and Ireland.

With over 35 years of sales and operational experience within the commercial safety market, Doug manages all commercial sales activities for Ocean Safety within Scotland and Ireland, including oil and gas, renewable energy and offshore wind.

Prior to joining Ocean Safety, Doug was a Sales Manager at Tyco Fire & Integrated Solutions where he led a team of product specialists and customer service staff supplying and sourcing life safety equipment.