Stephen is a former Royal Navy Senior Rate, serving for 23 years before retiring and joining Dryad in 2009. He has deployed around the World; most notably four deployments East of Suez, three Caribbean Patrols, the Falklands and throughout the Mediterranean.

In addition to his experience at sea, Stephen worked ashore as a member of Operation Hornbeam, the merchant shipping intelligence gathering operation, and at the Maritime Warfare Centre working on AIS integration and tactical procedures in the Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) division.