Specialist and experienced

Our People

Executive Team

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Neil Buchanan

Neil is a Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries with over 12 years’ experience in the pensions industry. With his actuarial background, Neil has extensive experience in pension scheme valuations, pension scheme accounting disclosures and ad-hoc project work such as scheme asset-liability modelling, monitoring investment performance and member option exercises.

 

Neil joined Mantle Services Limited in April 2022 and is responsible for the leadership and operational management of Mantle Services Limited.

 

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Graeme Riddoch

Graeme is responsible for driving the Mantle software business to realise its full potential. This includes setting the overall direction, identifying new opportunities and product developments.

 

Graeme joined in November 2019 and has spent the last 10 years in Fintech. Most recently he was the founding director of HUB Pension Solutions a ground breaking DB member option business with a big focus on member engagement.

 

 

Mike Selby

After graduating from Oxford University in 2002, Mike enjoyed a successful spell with a major benefits consultancy, playing key roles in actuarial, consulting and data management disciplines.

 

With a strong background in data management, systems and software development, in 2010 Mike started to develop pensions modelling software, Mantle, on which he now concentrates full time, joining Mantle Services in May 2014. 

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James Whittingham

James is the Chief Commercial Officer for Mantle. He is an entrepreneurial business leader with a track record of launching and developing technology businesses across sectors including Fintech, Payments, EdTech, Media and Sport and Cloud Services. With over 20 years of executive leadership experience, James has been a founder, investor, commercial lead, and CEO of numerous successful business ventures. 

 

James has a degree in Computer Science and a Masters in Management and Finance from the University of Cambridge, and is a Trustee of Coram children’s charity. 

Business Support

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Aaron Copeland

Aaron completed an undergraduate degree in Accounting and Finance at the University of Glasgow, followed by a Masters degree in Actuarial Science at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh.

 

Due to Aaron’s experience of Mantle Actuary he assists in developing and testing new functionality. He is now primarily involved in transitioning, testing and supporting Mantle Actuary clients.

 

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Gavin Downey

Gavin entered the pensions industry in 2014 working as an actuary. He is involved in the installation and testing of benefit calculations for schemes on Mantle. He also provides guidance and support to  clients to ensure they are using Mantle effectively.  

 

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Ciaran Harris

Ciaran is a qualified actuary and an experienced member of our actuarial team. He graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a BSc in Mathematics and Statistics and has since gained a wealth of experience in the defined benefit pension industry across both trustee advisory and corporate advisory areas. 

 

He is one of our actuarial experts at Mantle and plays a leading role in both testing new features of the system and providing actuarial support to users as they

transition to using Mantle as their actuarial system.

 

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Aisling Kerr

Aisling joined Mantle having recently graduated with a BSc Finance from Queen’s University Belfast.  

 

Aisling works within the Data Services team, which is responsible for Mantle’s functionality and for managing the online support portal.

 

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Matthew Leathem

Matthew is a Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries and leads our actuarial team. Matthew brings a wealth of expertise and experience to the team, with a background in both trustee advisory and corporate advisory contexts for pension schemes.

 

Matthew has played a key role in shaping the actuarial and investment functionality of Mantle. He has extensive experience supporting both consultancies and pension schemes as they transition to new actuarial platforms.

 

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Ciaran McCavana

Ciaran joined Mantle as a Graduate Business Analyst in October 2018 after graduating from Ulster University, Magee, earlier that year.  Previous to Mantle during his University placement year, Ciaran worked for the Utility Regulator on as a Data Analyst in the Electricity Market Monitoring Unit.

 

Since then, he has built up considerable experience and in 2021 was promoted to Data Analyst as well as qualifying in the PMI Certificate in Pensions Calculations in March 2023.

 

Ciaran is actively involved in all aspects of data

management, including installing new schemes onto Mantle, performing front-end coding on Mantle, and deriving relevant admin and actuarial data. 

 

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Martin Mellon

Martin is responsible for leading a seamless transition process for onboarding new clients. Martin works alongside the Service Delivery, Engineering and Support teams with client satisfaction as a key focus.  Martin has over 35 years’ experience in the Software Delivery Life Cycle, and believes in a people-centric focus. Martin started in Software Delivery as an Assembler Programmer and has developed and lead multi-disciplinary teams and projects across the globe including US, Romania, Brazil, Pakistan, India, Colombia and Africa.

 

Martin’s experience spans from the start-up of wholly owned subsidiaries of US companies in Northern Ireland and being involved in “bleeding edge” technology in varied fields from cryptocurrency to genomics.

 

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Rory Nethercott

Rory is currently studying for a degree in Financial Technology at Ulster University alongside his role as a Data Analyst apprentice.

 

His role is focussed on the smooth transition of pension scheme data to the Mantle platform. Rory also supports his team members on an array of projects to improve his industry and technical knowledge as he gains experience. 

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Adam Stephenson

Adam is a Graduate Business Analyst and is part of the Data Services Team within the Mantle brand. Adam brings an actuarial background to the team, offering experience from spending placement within the Actuarial team.

 

He is also managing the MPP project, carrying out actions on the actuarial, admin and data services side. Adam is also currently sitting CPC exams.

 

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Chris Tucker

Chris is a Senior Client Manager with over 15 years of  experience working in defined benefit and defined contribution pensions. Chris has extensive experience working with pension schemes, their trustees and key stakeholders on all matters relating to management and governance.

 

Chris joined Mantle in 2022, having previously worked for a large consultancy firm as a consultant and client manager. Chris acts as a first point of contact, responsible for managing client relationships throughout installation and beyond and has an overview of all services provided by Mantle.

 

Chris is an Associate member of the Pensions Management Institute.

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Dawn Watson

Dawn is a Fellow of the Pensions Management Institute with over 15 years experience in pensions administration and has worked for a number of third party administrators during that time.

 

Dawn joins Mantle having worked within the Pensions Delivery Function at Spence and Partners between 2017 and 2021.

 

Dawn provides administration consulting services to a number of schemes with particular expertise in data quality, scheme transitions and process improvements.

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Rachael Watt

Rachael holds a BSc in Business Economics from Queens University and a MSc in Management and Corporate Governance from the University of Ulster. 

 

Rachael has 10 years experience in the IT Industry working in Quality, Compliance and Customer Service roles, gaining a range of experience with ISO standards, Improvement & Quality methodologies, in both the corporate and public sector.

 

Rachael is responsible for all aspects of Service Delivery for Mantle, ensuring our Service Management Strategy maintains a specific focus on performance management, customer satisfaction and continuous improvement.  

Operations

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Eoghan Adams

Eoghan graduated from Queen’s University Belfast with a BSc in Mathematics and entered the pensions industry in 2015, building experience in various pension scheme administration roles, most recently in the processing of schemes through the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) assessment period.

Eoghan joined Mantle Services in 2022 as a Data and Systems Analyst in the Data Services Team, where he is involved in the installation and testing of benefit calculations for schemes on Mantle.

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Molly Ayling

Molly has a keen interest in actuarial software and machine learning applications in actuarial science. Having achieved a First Class Honours in Mathematics BSc from the University of Leeds, Molly joined Mantle as an Actuarial and Investment Trainee. 

 

Currently part of the installations team, Molly carries out actuarial testing as well as supporting and training new clients on the actuarial aspects of Mantle’s functionality.

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Cyril Gaffney

Cyril is Head of Pensions Delivery and his primary focus in on developing and delivering the innovative services powered by Mantle across the 3173 Group.

Having graduated from Queen’s University and the University of Ulster, Cyril has gained significant administration and consulting experience during 25 years working for leading employee benefit consultancies.

 

Cyril is a Fellow of the Pensions Management Institute, an Associate of the Chartered Governance Institute and is a PRINCE2 Practitioner.

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Daniel Keane

Daniel Keane recently joined Mantle Services as a Graduate Business Analyst. 

Having pursued his academic journey from A-Levels at RBAI to an undergraduate degree in marketing at Ulster University, Daniel realised his passion for analytics during a module on marketing data analysis. This realisation led him to further his education with a postgraduate degree in Business Analytics from Queen’s University.

Daniel’s professional journey is complemented by his part-time job experiences, which have honed his analytical skills and prepared him for the challenges of his new role.

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Patrick Lohan

Patrick is a Software Developer at Mantle.

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Laura McCartney

Laura McCartney recently graduated from Loughborough University with a PhD in Theoretical Computer Science and a BSc in Computer Science & Mathematics and is working towards qualifying with the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.

 

Laura is actively involved in software development and has a strong understanding of good coding practices, implementing these effectively in several different programming languages.

 

Laura has experience providing technical support in an IT department, with a particular focus on streamlining reporting systems and improving online efficiency. 

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Dennis Mincher

Dennis is an integral part of Mantle, serving as a Senior Data and Systems Analyst with a wealth of experience in data management, actuarial processes and pension scheme administration. He is responsible for all aspects of data management, including scheme migrations, system configuration and testing, benefit analysis and data rectification.

 

Dennis holds a BSc in Physics with Astrophysics from Queen’s University Belfast and has obtained professional qualifications in Data Analytics and Project Management, alongside being a Certificate Member of the Pensions Management Institute.

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Stephanie Moore

Stephanie has over 10 years of experience working as both a Defined Benefit Pensions Administrator and a Senior Systems Administrator, where she was involved in the design, implementation and running of large system platforms for the pensions industry.

Stephanie is a Business Analyst and member of the Data Services team, assisting in coding new installations and 
providing support to Mantle users.

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Harry O'Connell

Harry has built up experience in IT and pension sectors, having held roles as a software developer and as an actuarial technician.

 

Harry is actively involved in software development and provides information security support to a number of companies. Harry has also begun studying towards professional actuarial qualifications.

 

Kev Seenan

Kevin is a software developer at Mantle, working on providing new products to customers. He has a real drive for this and attended an intensive 16-week Software Development course to gain the skills required to begin a new career as a Software Developer.

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Barry Stevenson

Barry is a Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries with over 20 years of actuarial experience in the life insurance sector, previously holding roles as a liability modelling specialist in major life actuarial consultancies and top UK life insurance companies.

 

Barry has also previously held the position of Chief Examiner for the UK Actuarial Profession.

Barry joined in 2021 and works as a systems and software developer with a particular focus on AI and machine learning solutions in the pensions landscape.

 

Jason Swann

Jason entered the pension industry in 2006, working as a pension scheme administrator. He has particular expertise in benefit calculation and scheme take-on work. 

 

Jason is studying for his professional qualifications with the Pensions Management Institute.

 

Jason is actively involved in all aspects of data management and provides administration consulting services to a number of pension schemes.

Marketing

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Brooke McClurg

Brooke works as a Client Database Administrator and is responsible for supporting the business development team through various research projects, data validation and data maintenance.

 

Alongside her part-time work for the company Brooke joined Queen’s University in September 2023 studying International Relations and Politics.

 

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Susan McFarlane

Susan leads the marketing function for Mantle and is supported by the marketing team, handling all promotional activity including business development, marketing, events and PR.

 

Susan has spent over 15 years working in marketing across a range of industries and sectors both in the UK and overseas.

Lets talk about you​

To discuss how we can help with your company pensions and challenges, please contact us.

For general enquires enquiries@mantleservices.com

Linen Loft
27-37 Adelaide Street
Belfast , BT2 8FE UK
+44 28 9041 2888