Tony Yates

Tony began his career in the Merchant Navy working through the ranks to the position of Captain and holds a Bachelors Degree in Nautical Science. He moved to the USA to take a role with Caleb Brett (now Intertek), as a Marine Technical Supervisor and was subsequently promoted to the position of North East Regional Manager responsible for 9 offices.

Tony moved back to the UK in 1989 and joined BP moving through various roles in cargo assurance and trading operations including a number of management positions. In 2004 Tony was appointed Head of Operations for Integrated Supply and Trading. In this capacity he set the strategy and vision for the future whilst managing a large team in excess of 100 people, covering the operations functions of trading (crude and products), demurrage, inventory, cargo assurance, and shipping coordination.

As part of his wider responsibilities Tony was the Business Sponsor for the commercial graduate scheme, managing the demand, recruitment and development of quality talent. He is accredited in leadership development techniques and has developed and presented courses on a variety of subjects. He brings both strong technical and operational experience to the Smart Global team along with his strengths in leadership development, engaging the workforce and motivating and developing staff. Tony will lead the Smart Global Operations Business for the Training and Consulting streams.