The LBBC Team

Oliver Miles CMG joined the Foreign Office in 1960 and served in a number of diplomatic posts, including Abu Dhabi, Jordan, South Yemen and Saudi Arabia. In 1984 he became Ambassador to Libya and, following the shooting of WPC Yvonne Fletcher in London, he was responsible for withdrawing the British Embassy from Tripoli.

From 1998 to 2004 he was President of the Society for Libyan Studies. And between 1999 and 2003, he advised trade missions to Libya and has taken part in the British-Libyan Non-Governmental Dialogue.

Mr Miles is a senior consultant with Al Shafie Miles Ltd, a business intelligence consultancy specialising in the Middle East and North Africa, and editor of the Arab Digest newsletter.

Robert Gibbons is a Lawyer and was for over 30 years Senior Partner of Fox & Gibbons, where he established offices throughout the Middle East until the firm was acquired in 1998 by Denton, now Denton S.A. Mr Gibbons was Legal Counsel to both Sheikh Zaid, Ruler of Abu Dhabi and Sheikh Rashid, Ruler of Dubai and the Maktoum family. He was also Legal Counsel in London to the late King Hassan of Morocco. He has represented a number of Middle East institutions, governments and corporations and was Legal Counsel to the British Diplomatic Missions in the region. He was also responsible for establishing the Arab arbitration body and the Arab British Chamber of Commerce in London.

For 24 years Mr Gibbons was Chairman of the Sheraton Hotels in London and latterly of the Sheraton Grand in Edinburgh, and was founding Chairman of Highland Spring Mineral Water. With Dermot Graham, he established at the request of HMG, the Libyan British Business Council and as Deputy Chairman he works closely with the Libyan authorities to encourage and promote trade and investment opportunities for our members

Lord Trefgarne served in the Conservative administration of Margaret Thatcher as a Government Whip from 1979 to 1981 and as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department of Trade in 1981; at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 1981 to 1982; at the Department of Health and Social Security from 1982 to 1983; and at the Ministry of Defence from 1983 to 1985. He was then promoted to Minister of State for Defence Support, a post he held until 1986, and then served as Minister of State for Defence Procurement from 1986 to 1989 and as a Minister of State at the Department of Trade and Industry from 1989 to 1990. In 1989 he was admitted to the Privy Council. Lord Trefgarne was Chairman of the LBBC from its foundation until December 2013.

Robin Lamb studied Arabic and history at Brasenose College, Oxford, and at the Middle East Centre for Arabic Studies (MECAS) in Lebanon. He joined HM Diplomatic Service in 1971 and his career has been almost entirely devoted to Britain’s relationship with the Middle East – encompassing appointments to British Embassies in Bahrain, Basra, Cairo, Jedda, Khartoum, Kuwait, Riyadh and Tripoli, as well as an assignment in Muscat. Appointments at the Foreign Office have included spells as a Director of Trade Partners UK (now DIT) and as Deputy Head of the Middle East Department. He left government service in April 2007.

Robin has been Director General of the LBBC since May 2009. As DG, Robin supports the Chairman in delivering decisions of the Board and in maintaining contact with British and Libyan Ministers and senior officials. He also works with Pauline Graham (q.v.) to deliver services to LBBC members, including devising and delivering our programme of trade missions and business events. Robin is also Executive Director of the Egyptian British Business Council, a member of the Board of the Egyptian British Chamber of Commerce and a Trustee of the British University in Egypt as well as a member of the Board of the Royal Society for Asian Affairs.

Melanie Butler is a Partner at PwC and leads their Global Crisis Centre “GCC”, which acts as a trusted guide to clients as they prepare for, respond to and recover from the crises they face. Prior to her GCC role, she led our Deals Advisory practice based in Tripoli, Libya, post-revolution. Her clients included the National Transitional Council’s Temporary Financing Mechanism, Ministries of Health, Housing and Education, World Bank [WB] and General Electric Company of Libya [GECOL]. She has been a partner at PwC in the UK since 2003.

A forensic accountant by background, Melanie’s experience is focused on crisis response, financial management, investigations and contract examinations, in particular the areas of transparency, accountability and governance. She joined the Board of the LBBC in 2014.

Tarek Eltumi is a Libyan/New York qualified lawyer with a broad practice that covers corporate and commercial matters (foreign direct investment, joint ventures, restructurings), project development, finance and dispute resolution. He works principally in the sovereign wealth, oil and gas, infrastructure and telecommunications sectors, with a geographic focus on Libya and North Africa.

Tarek practised in Tripoli for almost ten years, where he advised on a range of innovative international finance deals and major infrastructure, oil and gas and tourism projects. During that time, he worked at the Libyan law firm Mukhtar, Kelbash & Elgharabli and acted for the British Embassy on a range of matters in that firm’s capacity as Honorary Counsel.

Tarek went on to work as General Counsel of AECOM Libya Housing and Infrastructure Inc., where he handled legal issues arising from the US$55bn Libyan Housing and Infrastructure Programme.

During the 2011 Libyan uprising, he served as special advisor and member of staff of the Prime Minister of Libya appointed by the National Transitional Council.

In 2012, Tarek joined global law firm Hogan Lovells, where he became a partner in the Infrastructure, Energy, Resources and Projects practice.

Tarek is widely published on matters of Libyan law and has spoken at a number of trade mission events in Tripoli and London.

Paul Hartwell is CEO of BACB. He has more than 30 years’ experience in financial markets that spans corporate and investment banking, SME and retail banking, treasury and asset management.

His specific expertise in risk management is backed by a track record of successfully managing large, complex programmes of operational and organisational change.

An Associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers, his extensive international banking experience has been gained in developed and emerging markets. He was appointed to the Board of the LBBC in 2017.

A diplomat from 1970 to 2006, Sir Richard began his career studying Arabic, followed by postings to the UK mission to the UN in New York, Jordan and Oman. In 1999, as the first UK Ambassador to Tripoli for 17 years, he re-established diplomatic relations with Libya. He was appointed Ambassador to Iran in 2003, where he played a key role in negotiations to prevent its development of a military nuclear capability.

Sir Richard stepped down as Director General of the LBBC in April 2009.  He is President of the British Iranian Business Council.

Adrian Perera is a chartered civil engineer with a Masters in Structural Engineering from Imperial College, London. He retired from consultancy giant WS Atkins International with over 30 years service in the UK and worldwide as Director within the Design Engineering & Architectural Group. Adrian continues to use his experience and technical and commercial skills in project management and as a facilitator, enabler, coordinator, organiser, business developer, strategist and mentor to support selected organisations in Libya and other Emerging Markets in construction and other sectors.

He sees his new role within the LBBC as an opportunity to give back to the region and to the sector some of what he has gained and enjoyed within it during his career.

Susie Davies joined the LBBC this year as Executive Secretary.  She is responsible for the business administration and membership services, as well as the organisation of events and delegations.  Before joining the LBBC, Susie worked for Thomson Reuters as a Project Manager and Training Manager within the Global Operations division.  Prior to joining Reuters, she organised delegations to many countries including Libya.