Cassandra has worked in the Public Sector for over 20+ years, during which time she developed a passion for putting people first. Cassandra has a proven track record in transformational and organisational change, as well as people, performance and budget management. 

Cassandra worked for 17 years at Colchester Borough Council in a range of positions, working her way up the ladder to become Group Manager. She then took her knowledge and experience to Babergh and Mid Suffolk Councils, where, as Director of Environment, she was pivotal in the adoption of some forward-thinking environmental decisions that are now starting to become the norm across the country.

Being passionate about politics, Cassandra has also managed to find the time to study for a degree in Politics and History alongside her role as the managing director.

She is a huge Moto GP fan, loves a game of Golf, and her biggest passion is cooking!

Chris has worked in the public sector for over 20+ years, and he is widely experienced in delivering a broad range of frontline services.

For many years, Chris led the Waste, Recycling and Fleet service in Colchester, developing strategy and working across the County, as well as leading an in-house service. During his leadership, many service changes were introduced, raising recycling levels to 55% and having one of the lowest waste arisings in England.  

Chris is also experienced in commercial waste services and developing strategies for fleet procurement and maintenance of vehicles. 

Chris has also previously led a CCTV and monitoring service, and when he worked in Braintree, he led Public Realm and Grounds services as well as Waste. Chris’s most recent role, before ESSL, was looking at service development in Babergh and Mid Suffolk to meet the needs of future legislation and working with the Suffolk Waste Partnership. What is really important to Chris in his working life is Honesty, Integrity, Empowerment and Curiosity.

Chris is a keen Blues fan, so, for most Saturdays of the year, he can be found at Portman Road or travelling to exotic places outside of Suffolk to watch the team.

For the last 20+ years, Pete has worked in the public sector in one way or another. He has a wealth of experience in strategic leadership and continuous improvement methods, across many departments.

At the London Borough of Hackney, Pete advised strategic managers on ways to reduce risk, improve compliance and customer experience across all Council departments. He then joined East Suffolk Council’s Port Health team as the Compliance Manager, where he led the implementation of continuous improvement methods, a performance framework, risk management systems, and managed the Health and Safety portfolio in a time of significant change (caused by EU exit and the Covid pandemic). 

When not at work he enjoys all things sport, and can be found on the golf course whenever the opportunity arises.

Pete’s values outside of work are mirrored by his values at work.  He believes in honesty, integrity, trust, and respect and even in times of adversity, finding positivity!

Rob joined ESSL from East Coast College, where he had been Head of Finance, leading the College’s finance function. Rob has been working in Finance for over 20 years, most recently focusing on turnaround, improvement and value for money.

Somehow, with three children, Rob still manages to find the time to run marathons and ultra marathons, and he especially enjoys hiking around the fantastic coastline we have in East Suffolk.

Catie has over 20 years of experience across project management, governance, business analysis and communications. She started her career at Zurich Financial Services, where she helped to roll out an innovative HR software tool for all employees nationwide, and later worked as a business analyst and auditor of European-funded projects. During her time at Zurich, she completed Lean Six Sigma training and gained an ISO9001 internal audit accreditation. She also has a degree in Politics, which probably explains her love of clarity, structure and knowing how things should work!

From January 2023 to June 2023, she was the Executive Assistant and Company Secretary, supporting four Directors and working on key internal projects such as fleet procurement and financial restructuring. As Company Secretary, she played a key role in guiding the Board: overseeing governance processes, ensuring compliance with statutory obligations, and helping shape decision-making through clear reporting and forward planning. She supported the flow of information between senior leaders, the Council, and shareholders, and helped ensure East Suffolk Services’ governance is both rigorous and practical. 

Justin spent the past 30 years building a career in retail. He started at Tesco, where he became the youngest store manager in the region at the time. From there, he moved on to Boots, where he oversaw more than 110 stores across the East of England – covering Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, and Lincolnshire.

For over 13 years, Justin served as both the manager of the Great Yarmouth store and deputy regional manager. He led the team to deliver the largest e-commerce department in the region, positive L4L, profit and customer feedback. 
” After spending the last 30 years working for large corporations, I’m genuinely excited to join a business whose principal aim is to serve the local community”.

Justin and his wife enjoy exploring the stunning local countryside and coastline, as well as visiting their other favourite destination, Cornwall, whenever they can. 

I’ve spent much of my career in local government, leading operational services and delivering change. Since joining ESSL in 2023, I was closely involved in the transfer from Norse, which gave me a real appreciation of how the organisation works and what matters most to our communities. 

Over the years, I’ve managed services like Parking, CCTV, Community Alarms and Out of Hours — many of which run 24/7 and come with their own challenges. I enjoy working with teams to solve problems, make services more efficient, and ensure staff feel supported along the way. 

I look forward to building resilience within teams, leveraging technology to streamline processes, and maintaining strong partnerships with stakeholders. Ultimately, I want to help create an environment where people feel supported, empowered, and motivated to deliver our exceptional services.