Board of Directors
Richard Pharro - Chief Executive Officer
Richard Pharro is the CEO of The APM Group Limited, the Accreditation Body for UK Government's Cabinet Office Best Practice Portfolio. He trained as a Civil Engineer and worked on projects in the UK and the Middle East and was part of the Programme Management Team responsible for the re-development of London Docklands in the 1980's. In the past Richard has been a member of the IPMA Board, a previous Vice Chairman of APM and with colleagues has built APM Group into an international organisation with offices on each continent specialising in accreditation and certification. He is a joint author of one book - The Relationship Manager - and is a frequent speaker at conferences.
For the last 14 years Richard has led the APM Group as OGC's Official Accreditor, initially for their Project Management activities and since July 2006 for Service Management. He joined our industry during a period of rapid change and is still learning.
Alan Harpham - Chairman
Alan is the chairman of the APM Group. Originally a civil engineer, he later worked on major North Sea and petrochemical construction projects. He was an early director of Cranfield University's MSc in Project Management, then MD of a leading consultancy in programme and project management - Nichols Associates. He is chairman of Cranfield University's Science and Engineering Research Ethics Committee and SPD's Medical Ethics committee.
He also chairs Ecumenical Partnership Initiatives Limited which runs Workplace Ministry in Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire and is a volunteer chaplain to the East of England Ambulance Service. He was a director of the International Center for Spirit at Work; a board member of the Cranfield Management Association and is a Certified Management Consultant and Fellow of the Institute of Business Consultants. Alan is also a member of the Worshipful Company of Management Consultants and sits on its pro-bono consulting committee.
Michael F. Dallas, MA (Cantab), MICE, FIVM, MAPM - Non-Executive Director
Michael has worked as a consultant to the construction industry for many years, initially in Water Treatment and Civil Engineering and latterly in Building and Construction. He served on the Council for the Accociation for Project Management and chaired the UK Institute of Value Management. He led the development of the British Standard and the Training and Certification System in Value Management, establishing it as a recognised profession in the UK. His book, Value and Risk Management - a guide to best practice, was published by Blackwells in January 2006. Michael was lead author of the new Best Management Practice guide "Management of Value" (MoV®) which joins together the other PPM guides.
Michael started his career with Howard Humphreys & Sons. Currently he is a Partner with international Property and Construction Consultants Davis Langdon LLP, now part of AECOM, and has been a director of APM Group Ltd since its inception.
Rod Baker - Non-Executive Director
Rod was originally an electronics engineer, who progressed through IT and systems development into his present role as an independent professional project and programme manager, working across all sectors of industry and commerce. He has successfully delivered projects in Europe, the Middle East, Australia and the USA. He is a Fellow of the Association for Project Management (APM), a Member of the British Computer Society (BCS) and a Member of the Project Management Institute (PMI).
Rod is an elected Board Member, Director and Trustee of APM and is Lead Assessor for the APM's Certificated Project Manager programme. He is also a Board Member of the Global Alliance for Project Performance Standards (GAPPS).
