About Us

Kevin Partington, MBA
Chief Executive Officer

Overall Experience: 36+ Years
Time with ATS Global: 15+ Years

Kevin is actively involved in ATS Global‘s business strategy, sales, customer relationship management, and delivery operations.

Before accepting the role of CEO, Kevin led operations for the EMEA region, increasing the effectiveness of operations through cross-collaboration of resources. He also held the position of Global Account Manager for Rolls-Royce plc, delivering a 300% increase in repeat annual revenues and expanding business across three continents. Kevin joined ATS in 2007, spearheading the UK division in the role of Operations Manager, then moving to Divisional Director in 2011.

Prior to joining ATS, Kevin spent 10 years in Production Management for Bombardier Transportation, controlling a programme to deliver 700 new rolling stock carriages to a major rail operator in the UK.

Kevin holds a Masters’ degree in Business Administration obtained in the UK from the University of Derby.

Patrick Pafort, MSc
Chief Financial Officer

Overall Experience: 25+ years
Joined ATS Global in 2023

Patrick plays a key role in driving our company’s financial growth and success.  With a keen eye on financial opportunities and challenges, he brings strong and broad finance and leadership skills to the table, ensuring the effective management of our financial resources and supporting the organisation’s overall development and sustainability.

Demonstrating an unwavering dedication to orchestrating financial excellence, Patrick skilfully guides the company’s financial operations, guaranteeing a harmonious alignment with our organisational vision and objectives. As a strong collaborator, he aligns with cross-functional leaders, conducting resource optimisation initiatives and fortifying every department’s contribution to the success of ATS.

In tandem with overseeing internal financial controls, he holds the crucial responsibility of managing investor relations and fostering relationships with various external stakeholders, including insurance, pension, and audit entities.

Patrick started his career in the financial sector, working for a bank and pension fund. After this, he moved into the Oil and Gas Industry, where he worked for Royal Dutch Shell in a variety of finance roles for 10 years. He has also been Director and CFO of two startups providing software solutions in the Energy sector. He holds a degree in International Financial Economics from the University of Amsterdam.

Deborah Pritchard, BSc
Group Treasurer

Overall Experience: 20+ Years
Time with ATS Global: 10+ Years

Deborah is responsible for the Group Treasury Management at ATS following a neutral risk policy. This assists in the smooth running of daily operations globally and provides support towards the achievement of our business objectives. She ensures good control of the cash flow and exchange rate risk in the local businesses and globally with a keen eye for detail and process compliance.

Deborah has two Bachelor of Science degrees in Clinical Physiology (Cardiology) and a Bsc. in Sport and Exercise Science with Psychology. As a lover of learning she is now studying to obtain the CIMA (Chartered Institute of Management Accounting) finance qualifications after a career change involving internal training at many of the ATS Divisions.

Mark McCoy, MSc, MCIPD
ATS Board of Directors
Chief of Staff / Chief People Officer

Overall Experience: 20+ years
Time with ATS Global: 2 years

In the role of Chief of Staff, Mark supports the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) to remain aligned with our company objectives across a number of global activities. In this position, Mark supports the SLT reach key decisions promptly, manage internal strategic initiatives with effective change management and oversees strategic communications.

He also leads the People Operations function of ATS Global, supporting its growth and maturity objectives by creating a highly effective community of professionals to support the increasing demands of our customers, partners and shareholders, whilst also raising employee experiences through the delivery of fantastic people processes. He is passionate about the value of people and how individual, team and organisation efforts all connect to lift the organisations capability.

He served in the UK Armed Forces for 23 years, the latter half of which was spent in appointments focusing on the development of people, teams and organisation capability. He then left the military in 2013, taking on a number of people-focused leadership roles in a range of global organisations across many industries including Oil and Gas, Logistics and Supply and Telecommunications.

Mark holds full membership of the Chartered Institute of Professional Development and is qualified at MSc (HR Development and Performance Management).

Mike James, FCMA, GCMA, DMS
Chair, Board of Directors

Overall Experience: 50+ Years
Time with ATS Global: 37+ Years

Mike is one of the founding members of ATS Global. He established our organization in 1986 with a vision to transform the way the world leverages the power of automation and IT in manufacturing. He is instrumental in ATS Global’s current position as a market leader and independent solution provider for smart digital transformation.

Today, Mike focuses on enhancing the long-term future of the organization. He is deeply involved in leadership development, cultural alignment, investor relationships and advocating technological adoption across the globe.

Mike is also the ex-Chair of the Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions Association (MESA). He is an innovative and self-driven leader with a passion for manufacturing and manufacturing IT solutions. His motto is going global by truly serving the interests of customers, particularly in the manufacturing industry.

Ing. Hans Damman
Vice-Chair, Board of Directors

Overall Experience: 50+ Years
Time with ATS Global: 37+ Years

Hans is a unique figure in the manufacturing industry. An early adopter of digital technology from the beginning of the 3rd Industrial Revolution Hans jointly founded ATS in 1986.

With a sharp instinct and seriously high IQ Hans recognized the products and services needed for digitalisation. By combining portable PC’s with PLC programming software he created the world’s first portable programming terminal. From those early days Hans recognized the trends and constantly adapted ATS’s offering through various technology waves such as SCADA.

Today Hans is a Non-Executive Board Member and maintains a close touch with the business outside of any operational role.