Deborah Higgins 2

An experienced emergency management and business continuity specialist, Deborah is Head of the Cabinet Office Emergency Planning College.

Having designed large-scale crisis management training and exercises, she has also led on the design and development of British Standards and qualifications.

As well as ensuring our clients achieve their objectives through a range of services, Deborah continually strives in her own professional development.

As Head of the Cabinet Office Emergency Planning College, Deborah is responsible for directing all EPC activities and for managing the relationship with the Cabinet Office, Serco and wider stakeholder groups.

With vast practical experience in emergency management and business continuity management internationally, Deborah has designed and coordinated large-scale multi-agency incident and crisis management training and exercises at operational, tactical and strategic level.

Former roles include editor in chief of the Good Practice Guidelines 2018, where she was responsible for the development of the Certificate of the BCI examination and Diploma of the BCI qualification.

As well as sitting on the Thames Valley Local Resilience Forum, Deborah was an active member of the Continuity and Resilience group for the British Standards Institution. She has also served as a UK principal expert to the International Standards Organisation Societal Security Management group and is on the editorial advisory board for the Crisis Response Journal and a member of the Global Advisory Council for the ISRM.

A Fellow of the Business Continuity Institute (FBCI), Deborah has recently been granted Fellowship of the Institute of Strategic Risk Management (ISRM).

Constantly striving to improve her professional development, she has attained a Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt certification with Serco and is currently completing the Serco Contract Manager Programme.

Deborah finds motivation in working in a role that contributes to making the country a safer place to live. The personal values she finds most important is Integrity and seeks that quality in the people she works with.

In her spare time, Deborah takes in the countryside on long walks, and when not out in the fresh air, enjoys spending time with her extensive family and friends.