About Us

Burstock was founded by Barney White-Spunner and George Busby in 2015.

Drawing on their wealth of experience working for the British Government in many different countries, but especially in the Gulf Region and the Western Balkans, George and Barney have established a model that allows them to draw on a network of highly qualified experts with unrivalled expertise across a wide range of policy areas. They are supported by a small, long serving and dedicated executive team. The advantage of this model is that we find the person best suited to help the client and empower them to deliver – we fit the team to the client as opposed to the client to the team.

We have expertise across many commercial sectors and a particular knowledge of defence, diplomacy, security and intelligence. We assemble specialist teams to address the needs of a client to solve and ensure that each receives a highly specialised and quality outcome.

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Meet the team

Sir Barney White-Spunner

Director

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George Busby

Director

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Archie Brooke

Director (Maritime) and Project Management Lead

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Lord Christopher Geidt

Education Director

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Andrew Turner CB CBE

Burstock Defense and Intelligence Specialist

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Kalli Morris

Maritime Advisor and Communications Manager

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Harry Robson

Maritime Advisor and Reporting Officer

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Matthew Brooke

Project Officer

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Victoria Riley

Research and Analysis Lead

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Sabina Dolić

Maritime Policy Officer: Environment and Climate

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Mark Rodaway

Maritime Policy Officer: Safety and Security

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Sir Barney White-Spunner

Director

Sir Barney White-Spunner KCB, CBE served in the British Army for thirty ﬁve years, ﬁnishing as the Army Commander. He has extensive experience in the Middle East, Africa and Asia leading both British and multinational forces. Most recently he has run the largest UK rural campaigning group representing the interests of 500,000 people. He is an Honorary Member of the French Foreign Legion and holds the US Legion of Merit.

George Busby

Director

George Busby CMG spent thirty years in the foreign service, serving in Europe, South Asia and, most recently, the Gulf. He is a specialist in international security.

Archie Brooke

Director (Maritime) and Project Management Lead

Archie joined Burstock in 2021 as the KSAIMO mission Project Manager developing KSA maritime policy, regulation, and international engagement at the IMO before also joining Burstock as a Director in 2023. Prior to this, he managed the UK Judicial Sector Reform project in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and operated as the coordinator for the UK government’s Jordan Security Sector Reform Project between 2016 – 2019. He also project managed the SAQR CT project and PSD ANPR projects during this period. He received a MA in Violence, Terrorism and Security from Queen’s University and BA in Arabic Language from University of Manchester and conducted further academic research as the Resident WSD-Handa Fellow and member of the Young Leaders Programme for Pacific Forum between 2020 – 2021.

Lord Christopher Geidt

Education Director

Lord Christopher Geidt GCB GCVO OBE QSO worked for more than thirty-five years in defence, diplomatic, political, and constitutional roles. He is an independent member of the House of Lords and chairs a major British university alongside a portfolio of national, Commonwealth and other international interests.

Andrew Turner CB CBE

Burstock Defense and Intelligence Specialist

Andrew Turner was a battlefield helicopter pilot, Assistant Chief of the Defense Staff (Operations) from October 2017 to 2019 before being promoted to air marshal and appointed as Deputy Commander Capability at RAF Air Command on 23 May 2019. He has served on 19 operations in UK, Europe, the Middle East, Far East, South and North America. He is interested in the energy transition and the use and storage of new fuels. Additionally, he focuses on cyber security, quantum computing, and e-commerce. As well as, providing strategic advice on aviation, and space matters to clients.

Kalli Morris

Maritime Advisor and Communications Manager

Kalli Morris specialises in external relations and international policy engagement. She began her career as a researcher in policy development within Countering Violent Extremism, before moving into maritime security and policy. She has conducted research and analysis on a wide range of maritime-related issues, including environmental regulations, safety standards, and international trade agreements for stakeholders. She is also a skilled public relations practitioner facilitating strategic engagement through various platforms, publications, and event coordination. Her expertise in media relations has supported projects that have benefited institutions, companies, and government entities. She is skilled at developing communication plans promoting dialogue and relationship building. She holds a MA in Violence, Terrorism, and Security from Queen’s University Belfast and a BA in Politics with minors in History, and Public Relations.

Harry Robson

Maritime Advisor and Reporting Officer

Harry Robson is a policy researcher with a background in maritime, security, environment, and transport policy and has, since 2022, supported the development and implementation of multilateral engagement at the International Maritime Organization. Harry also supports Burstock project development opportunities including Market Entry analysis and Business Intelligence Reporting. Harry holds an undergraduate degree in Politics and International Relations from the University of Cambridge and a master’s degree in international security studies from the University of St Andrews.

Matthew Brooke

Project Officer

Matthew Brooke is as a Project Officer for Burstock, supporting project activities including copywriting, marketing, event management and project finances. Prior to working for Burstock, Matthew worked as a marketing manager for the Game of Thrones Studio Tour in Northern Ireland between 2021 – 2022 as well as operating as a sailing instructor and Field Guide Association South Africa certified safari guide for several years. He has a degree in Ancient History from the University of Manchester.

Victoria Riley

Research and Analysis Lead

Victoria Riley began her career as a Middle East analyst specialising in regional politics and current affairs, working for BBC Monitoring and Research and the Civil Service. She has lived, studied and worked in the Gulf Region. Since leaving the Civil Service she has worked on a range of private sector projects from economic diversification in the Gulf to researching extremism in the UK. Victoria is an experienced open-source researcher and deploys these skills flexibly from conducting corporate due diligence and stakeholder mapping to investigating how social media is used to manipulate and promote narratives. She holds a degree in Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies from Durham University.

Sabina Dolić

Maritime Policy Officer: Environment and Climate

Sabina Dolić is a qualified lawyer specialized in international maritime law. She has experience of working with the United Nations and European Union institutions, as well as in diplomacy and academia. She has been involved in regulatory projects dealing with the implementation and analysis of maritime international instruments and regional regulations. Her professional focus is mainly related to marine environmental protection, green decarbonization and digitalization in the shipping industry. Studies she carried out, equipped her with expertise to provide legal advice and solutions in the marine and maritime sector.

Mark Rodaway

Maritime Policy Officer: Safety and Security

Following service in the Royal Navy, Mark Joined Her Majesty’s Coastguard as a Search and Rescue Co-ordinator. Over a 33-year career, Mark was an acknowledged Search Planning subject matter expert heavily involved in the development of an international award-winning search planning tool. He went on to Commanded Portland Coastguard where he was the tactical commander of various high-profile maritime incident including MSC Napoli where he was additionally appointed as Her Majesty’s Acting Receiver of Wrecks. In 2014 Mark was appointed as one of the first Maritime Operations Commanders at the United Kingdom’s National Maritime Operations Centre (NMOC) where he helped to develop operational policy and procedures for the fledging National network. Latterly, Mark Served as Head of Capability and the Aviation & Maritime Technical Training Lead. Mark received a number of awards during his service including an OBE for services to Maritime Search and Rescue and a National Lifetime Achievement accolade for Control Room Operators. In 2019 he was appointed as a Younger Brother of Trinity House.

About Us

Burstock was founded by Barney White-Spunner and George Busby in 2015.

Meet the team

Want to work with us?

Contact Us

London, United Kingdom

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia