After almost 20 years in senior business and client management roles for a top London finance company, Stephen decided that success and excitement did not necessarily go hand in hand. A chance meeting with a top Virgin executive resulted in a grand plan being hatched to create the world's first Head of Astronaut Relations for the world's first space tourism operator - Virgin Galactic.

Based in London, Stephen leads Virgin Galactic's commercial operations with a team that covers sales, marketing, customer care, PR and communications. He also is responsible for workstreams that are developing and managing the astronaut experience as well as the liability, insurance and regulatory framework.

Prior to Galactic, Stephen worked for Gartmore Investment Management plc, a major London based investment management firm, where he performed a number of management and senior management for more than 15 years. The roles undertaken over the period focused on the company's relationship with sophisticated institutional and high net worth clients and prospective clients.

Stephen is a regular speaker at numerous industry and other conferences on behalf of Virgin Galactic. Immensely entertaining and highly enjoyable, Stephen's presentations are a perfect mix of new ideas and sound business know-how.