PDS confirms ‘strategic restructuring’ with series of interim senior leadership hires
Brian Jackson – stock.adobe.com
The Police Digital Service has seemingly streamlined and revamped its senior leadership team, more than a year after two of its staff were arrested for suspected misconduct in public office
The Police Digital Service (PDS) has completed a “strategic restructuring” of its senior leadership team, more than a year after two of its employees were arrested for suspected bribery, fraud and misconduct in a public office.
The two PDS employees were arrested, interviewed and bailed by City of London Police in July 2024, and since then, the organisation’s senior leadership team has undergone a complete revamp.
Within two weeks of the news of the arrests breaking, Computer Weekly confirmed that PDS chief executive Ian Bell had resigned from his post, before later being replaced by interim CEO Tony Eastaugh in August 2024.
According to the PDS website, Eastaugh’s appointment has now been made permanent, and the senior leadership team appears to have been streamlined, with fewer roles now listed, and is now staffed with interim leaders. They include Ed Preece, who served as PDS’s director of governance and performance between September and February 2025, before taking on the role of interim chief operating officer.
As previously reported by Computer Weekly, the organisation’s chief information security officer (CISO), Jason Corbishley, departed PDS in April 2025 to take up a position in the private sector as a consulting director at Palo Alto Networks Unit 42. He has since been replaced by interim CISO Chris Cope.
The following month, in April 2025, the company’s chief financial officer, Catherine Wilmot, departed PDS, before being replaced by Lisa Cranston.
The website also lists David Bowen as interim deputy CEO and ex-Government Digital Service human resources head Greg Hobbs as interim chief people officer. Both appear to be new roles at PDS.
When asked by Computer Weekly about the raft of interim senior leadership appointments, a PDS spokesperson said they were geared towards assisting the organisation with achieving its push to digitally transform UK policing.
“The Police Digital Service has made appointments to its executive team over the past year to strengthen its leadership and deliver on the ambitious goals of the National Policing Digital Strategy,” said the spokesperson, in a statement.
“The appointments are designed to bring in fresh expertise and perspectives to better address the complex challenges facing modern policing,” they added. “These individuals bring extensive experience crucial for overseeing the PDS’s corporate strategy and ensuring effective collaboration with police forces and key partners.
“This strategic restructuring ensures the organisation can deliver on its mission to help policing protect the public in an evolving digital world.”
‘Reset programme’
As confirmed in a previous statement to Computer Weekly, attributed to Eastaugh, in the wake of the July 2024 arrests at PDS, the organisation set about a “significant reset programme” that concluded at the end of last year.
As outlined in Eastaugh’s statement, the reset paved the way for PDS to introduce a “new operating model and an ambitious strategic delivery plan to support policing and public safety”, while allowing PDS to focus on delivering “live services at greater speed, scale and efficiency”.
Meanwhile, and at the time of writing, the criminal investigation involving the two unnamed PDS employees is still ongoing, as confirmed to Computer Weekly by City of London Police.
PDS, incorporated in June 2012, is classified as a private company with no shareholders, and its activities are funded by the Home Office and the wider policing sector.
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