Corporate Governance

Alan Roper

Managing Director

With a National Diploma from Pershore College of Horticulture, Alan joined Blue Diamond as the Company's Retail Director in 1999 when turnover was only £6m.

In 2007 Alan was promoted to Managing Director of the Group. Alan masterminded the development of Bridgford Garden Centre, Nottingham, which is widely regarded as one of the best garden centres in the country.

Today, Blue Diamond turns over more than £300m per annum.

WATCH - Alan's 20 Years of Service Video - YouTube

Simon Burke

Chairman

Simon Burke is an experienced retail and consumer executive and has managed some of the best-known retail names in the UK.

He trained as a chartered accountant before joining Virgin, where he held various positions, including Chief Executive Officer of Virgin Retail, Virgin Cinemas, and Virgin Entertainment Group, a £1bn worldwide business.

He has been Chairman or Chief Executive Officer of retail brands such as Hamleys, Majestic Wine, Superquinn, the iconic Irish supermarket chain, Hobbycraft and Bathstore.com, as well as Mitchells & Butlers, the FTSE 250 pub and restaurant business. Several of these businesses were turned around and in some cases sold at strong premiums.

More recently he has had non-executive appointments including SID at the BBC, chair of tech start-up Eagle Eye Solutions and Audit chair at the Co-op. Simon is currently Chairman of Bakkavor the FTSE 250 food producer, Blue Diamond, the No 1 UK garden centre retailer, and of The Light Cinema Group.

David Ummels

Non-Executive Director

David is a multicultural entrepreneur whose background is in investment management, capital markets and debt restructuring. Over the last 25 years, he has built a strong network of relationships with many institutional investors and corporations. He has accumulated a substantial knowledge of different legal environments and international corporate governance standards. 

He has sat on several public and private company boards, including an investment vehicle that held an extensive portfolio of "trophy" assets in the fields of real estate and luxury car manufacturing, a large central and eastern European real estate company and a London based investment manager. David has extensive experience working on audit, remuneration and risk committees. He is a passionate art collector and a big fan of and advocates for Guernsey, where he settled in 2015 with his family. David is a member of the Council of the Chamber of Commerce, their Cultural Ambassador and head of the creative sector. He is also the founder of Art for Guernsey, an entrepreneurial and innovative art-related charitable initiative.