Login

Candace Gerlach

Marketing Consultant

With 15 years in the industry, Candace is best known for her ability to develop strategic marketing plans and brand communications that unlock brand potential and fuel business growth. Having moved away from corporate life in 2020, she now specialises in supporting a range of businesses across industries. She runs a marketing consultancy called The Conscious Marketing Group and is the strategic partner for Prova Risk. Other clients include big corporates like Direct Line as well as charities such as Colostomy UK.

Meet Our Team

Chris Hotchkiss

Chief Executive Officer

Chris Hotchkiss is a terrorism risk management specialist dedicated to making complex compliance requirements accessible to every organisation, regardless of their security background.

With a career built on frontline expertise - from military service to high-stakes private security operations and advisory work on World Bank projects across Africa and the Middle East - Chris has spent decades helping organisations understand and navigate the realities of terrorism risk. That deep operational knowledge now sits at the heart of Prova Risk, where he has translated years of specialist experience into a platform that puts meaningful, legally compliant risk management within reach of any responsible person, not just security professionals.

Chris's driving conviction is that Martyn's Law compliance shouldn't require you to speak the language of the security industry. So his job is to make sure it doesn't.

Mike Wills

Chief Technology & Product Officer

Mike Wills is a veteran British Army Officer turned technology entrepreneur with over two decades of experience in defence, cyber, and digital transformation. He has built, scaled, and successfully exited two international cyber and data security businesses.

As Prova’s Chief Technology & Product Officer, Mike combines operational discipline with commercial insight to design and deliver technology strategies that drive growth, resilience, and performance. He has advised boards and executive teams across critical national infrastructure, defence, financial, and healthcare, helping organisations translate complex technology into measurable business value.

Phil Hannah

Risk Management Methodology Advisor

Philip had a successful military career for 17 years, becoming a Gurkha Battalion Second-in-Command and the Chief of Staff of Brunei Garrison in 2007. After spending three years with Aldersgate Partners LLP, a management consulting firm, he established Seven Questions, a London-based decision support consulting practice in 2011. Phil helps public and private sector clients make better decisions, execute strategy more effectively, protect their assets, and gain greater insight about their environment. Philip blends military, academic, and business practices to collaborate with high-level corporate clients.

Debbie Foley

Non-Executive Director, Marketing

Currently CRO of Pod Point PLC., an EV charging solutions technology company, Debbie brings with her 27 years of rich international business experience including several EU and global marketing leadership roles at Shell. She has lived and worked in the Middle East, Africa and Europe and has led organisations operating in over 25 countries. Debbie has a passion for customer-centrality and a proven track record of delivering commercial growth through sales and marketing excellence through competitive value propositions that deliver recurring revenue.

Chris Aldous

Operations

Chris specialises in the protection of crowded spaces, such as Sports Venues, Universities, Hotels and Shopping complexes. Consideration of behavioural aspects, through the application of his social and criminological studies, enables Chris to implement Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design. Chris was involved in the security design for a number of the Qatar 2022 world cup stadiums.

Steve Smith

Non-Executive Director, Technology

With a PhD in Information Retrieval and Computer Science, Steve brings over 20 years of experience as a CTO and head of engineering intelligence for numerous startups, and newly public entities. Known for his expertise in scaling software and teams, he has also successfully built and run SaaS tech companies such as CloudMailin and Attachment Scanner. Now serving as a Non-Executive Director, Steve leverages his extensive knowledge to foster strategic innovation and growth in the tech startup ecosystem.