Executive team

Brice Bouffard is the Chief Executive Officer of Acteon. Joining in March 2024 as part of the acquisition of Acteon Group by Buckthorn Partners and OEP, he brings a wealth of business experience highly relevant to Acteon and our key segments.

A proven c-suite leader Brice has a strong international track record in commercial strategy, entrepreneurship, transformation and restructuring organisations for both corporate and private equity stakeholders including Fugro, Weatherford, and Schlumberger.

David-Alexandre Guez is Acteon's Chief Financial Officer. He joined in April 2024 following Buckthorn Partners and OEP's acquisition of Acteon Group. David-Alexandre brings his financial experience acquired in leading listed companies and unique operational and business knowledge to Acteon.

With over 20 years of multinational experience in the energy sector, David-Alexandre has led strategic transformations on a global scale for Technip, Air Liquide, and Fugro - in France, the USA, and the Netherlands.

Barry Parsons is the Group Chief Commercial Officer of Acteon overseeing the sales and marketing performance to support our growth ambitions. Barry has strategically grown the Acteon business in new sectors and markets by optimising our portfolio and improving our customer intimacy. This has included leading programmes and projects directed at offshore wind farms, building strategies for our new sector growth, and developing Acteon’s commercial talent and process.

Formerly leading global sales and operational teams as SVP at CHC Helicopter and VP at Schlumberger, Barry has gained a wealth of commercial experience over the past 25 years including successfully building sales capacity for newly restructured organisations.

Odd Oeen is Acteon’s Vice President for QHSE. With over 30 years of international experience in the offshore energy sector, Odd has held various QHSE roles across Norway, Saudi Arabia, Australia, the USA, and the UK. He brings a wealth of experience in overseeing global QHSE performance and practices, with a proven track record in building robust QHSE teams in diverse and challenging settings. Odd has also received multiple awards for his innovative QHSE programmes.

Yann Helle is the Executive Vice President of the Engineering Business Line for Acteon. With over 22 years’ experience in the energy industry, Yann’s strategic and technical expertise has contributed to the business’ innovative growth in both offshore oil and gas and renewable energy. He has a diverse background in engineering and a successful track record leading high-value projects in subsea riser and conductor systems, minimum facility platforms, component engineering design, package supply, fixed and floating offshore wind engineering.

Yann is a Chartered Engineer and member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) and holds a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Kingston University, London and an MBA from Imperial College London.

Paul Smith is the Executive Vice President of the Geo-services Business Line for Acteon. Paul has 25 years’ experience in the offshore survey sector and joined Acteon in 2011. Prior to his appointment as EVP Geo-services, Paul held several Commercial and Operational management roles within Acteon Group survey companies serving as UTEC Managing Director from 2018. Paul holds a MSc in Hydrography from the University of Plymouth.

Jochem Scherpenisse is the Executive Vice President of the Marine Foundations Business Line for Acteon, providing leadership and overall P&L accountability. Jochem has strategically grown this part of the business by optimising the portfolio, integrated efforts, and commercials with emphasis on customer focus. He has over 25 years of operational and commercial experience including successfully building, integrating, and restructuring organisations.

Jochem has previously led wide geographic domain operational teams in various capacities, including being responsible for Europe, Africa, Russia-Caspian Operations Support and VP at Baker Hughes. He also spent several years in the Private Equity space serving as COO for a global active decommissioning venture.

David McGuire is the Executive Vice President of the Moorings and Anchors Business Line for Acteon, providing leadership and overall P&L accountability. David has a wealth of global experience in the offshore energy sector, having strategically grown businesses by optimising portfolios, integrating efforts, and focusing on customer-centric solutions.

David has over 20 years of operational and commercial experience, including senior leadership roles at TechnipFMC such as VP Subsea Wells, VP Inspection, Maintenance and Repair, VP Subsea Projects, and VP Marine Operations. Most recently, he served as Vice President of Business Operations at Omnidian.

Sam Hanton is the Executive Vice President of the Energy Services Business Line for Acteon. He is responsible for all aspects of the delivery and performance. Sam has over 20 years of experience across the energy industry and joined Acteon in 2019 with the acquisition of the Field Technology Services business from Proserv, joining Claxton at that time.

Sam has previously held offshore and onshore operational, management, and corporate roles with Subsea 7, Nautronix, and Proserv respectively. Sam holds a bachelor’s in surveying and Mapping Science and is also a chartered surveyor.

Diana Whitney is Acteon’s General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer. She joined Acteon in 2023 to assist with the sale of the business to Buckthorn Partners and OEP. Diana has over 25 years’ experience of advising organisations in the infrastructure sector on legal, ethics, compliance, governance and risk related matters. Prior to joining Acteon, Diana was General Counsel, Europe for global ports operator Hutchison Ports, where she spent 16 years. During this time Diana worked on major port development projects and M&A transactions as well as port and logistics operations worldwide. Prior to moving in-house Diana worked in private practice at Mayer Brown and Baker & McKenzie.

Sarah Tarrant is Acteon’s Chief People Officer, bringing over 30 years of experience in human resources and people leadership. Over the past decade at Acteon, she has led strategic, business-focused HR initiatives that drive performance and engagement across the organisation.

A qualified executive coach, Sarah leads high-impact HR teams and fosters cultures of accountability and collaboration. Her pragmatic approach and strategic insight ensure that people initiatives are closely aligned with business goals, positioning HR as a key driver of value.

Sarah is passionate about building inclusive, high-performing workplaces and has deep expertise in leadership development, talent acquisition, and preparing teams for the future.