AWS re:invent logo

December 1-5, 2025 | Las Vegas, NV
Meet us at AWS re:Invent 2025

We’re heading to Las Vegas to showcase how we help organisations migrate, modernise and optimise on AWS with confidence. Meet our AWS experts, discover what we’re working on, and explore opportunities to collaborate.
Let's Meet

AWS re:Invent 2025
Meet our re:Invent team

Our team of AWS-certified specialists and business leaders will be at AWS re:Invent ready to connect, collaborate and explore how we can help your organisation modernise, migrate, and innovate on AWS.

Mark Sailes

Former AWS Specialist Solutions Architect (Serverless) & Principal Solutions Architect at Leighton

Rob Yardy

Head of Business Development at Leighton

Dan Pudwell

AWS User Group Organiser & Solutions Architect at Leighton

Lee Gilmore

AWS Serverless Hero & AWS Practice Lead at Leighton

Steve Morland

AWS Community Builder & CTO at Leighton

James Bunting

Chief Executive Officer at Leighton

Claire Cundill

Chief Commercial Officer at Leighton

Mark Sailes

Former AWS Specialist Solutions Architect (Serverless) & Principal Solutions Architect at Leighton

Mark is a Principal Solutions Architect at Leighton and a recognised expert in serverless and Java on AWS, with over 17 years of experience helping organisations modernise and innovate in the cloud. Before joining Leighton, he was a Senior Specialist Solutions Architect (Serverless) at AWS, where he delivered more than 100 projects and helped train over 50 engineering teams. Mark has also held senior engineering roles at William Hill and Sky Betting & Gaming, bringing deep insight into large-scale, high-availability systems. A passionate advocate for AWS Lambda, Java, and serverless architecture, he shares his knowledge through his YouTube channel, “Java in the Cloud”.

An experienced international speaker, Mark has presented at major conferences including AWS re:Invent, Devoxx Poland, SpringOne, and JAX London.

Rob Yardy

Head of Business Development at Leighton

Rob is an accomplished commercial leader and is currently Head of Business Development at Leighton, where he plays a pivotal role in driving commercial strategy and shaping the company’s growth in the technology sector. With a career defined by innovation, collaboration, and a deep understanding of client needs, Rob has built lasting partnerships that help organisations unlock the power of digital transformation. At Leighton, Rob is focused on creating new partnerships with customers that deliver impactful technology solutions that drive measurable business results.

Throughout his career, Rob has been instrumental in identifying new market opportunities, fostering client relationships, and guiding businesses through periods of significant change.

Dan Pudwell

AWS User Group Organiser & Solutions Architect at Leighton

Dan is a Solutions Architect at Leighton and an active leader in the AWS community as the organiser of AWS User Group North East and Serverless North East. With nearly 20 years of experience in IT and software development, he has worked with leading consultancies including Accenture, Opencast, CloudSoft, and Cognitran, helping clients design and deliver scalable cloud solutions.

A passionate advocate for serverless technologies and community-driven learning, Dan has spoken at the AWS Community Summit and featured on podcasts such as Believe in Serverless. During his time at Opencast, he also launched a series of 10 code clubs in local primary schools, inspired by the first club he created at his son’s school to help inspire the next generation of technologists.

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Lee Gilmore

AWS Serverless Hero & AWS Practice Lead at Leighton

Lee is an AWS Serverless Hero and AWS Practice Lead at Leighton, with more than two decades of experience designing and delivering scalable, cloud-native solutions. Before becoming a Hero, he served as an AWS Community Builder for four years, helping grow and support the global AWS community.

He’s the creator of the Serverless Patterns registry, featuring 100+ open-source solutions, and runs the Serverless Advocate blog and newsletter. A passionate technologist with eight active AWS certifications, Lee has led engineering teams and delivered solutions for organisations including Sage, BT, AO.com, and City Electrical Factors. He’s also an international speaker, having previously presented at AWS re:Invent.

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Steve Morland

AWS Community Builder & CTO at Leighton

Steve is an AWS Community Builder and CTO at Leighton, with over 24 years of industry experience delivering technology solutions for global brands including British Airways and International Airlines Group. A passionate advocate for cloud-native and serverless technologies, Steve drives Leighton’s technical vision  

He co-created on:tech, a technical blog and event series dedicated to AWS and software development, bringing together the Northern tech community to share insights and ideas.

An international speaker, he’s presented at the World Aviation Festival in Lisbon and regularly speaks at local AWS User Groups. Steve also promotes open-source innovation at Leighton, creating several open-source packages on Leighton Tools.

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James Bunting

Chief Executive Officer at Leighton

James is the CEO at Leighton and Chair of the Dynamo North East Advisory Board, where he champions innovation, collaboration, and growth across the regional tech community. He is also the co-founder of the Digital Capability Exchange UK, a not-for-profit initiative helping organisations share and scale digital talent. James began his career at Leighton in 2000 as Head of Operations, delivering projects for British Airways, Sage, and Cadbury’s, and played a key role in creating the Leighton spin-outs 4Projects and Communicator Corp. He later became Managing Director of Communicator Corp, guiding it to success before its acquisition, and rejoined Leighton as CEO in 2017.

A respected voice in digital leadership, James has previously served as Vice Chair of the Email Marketing Council and as a guest speaker for the Institute of Direct and Digital Marketing (IDM).

Claire Cundill

Chief Commercial Officer at Leighton

Claire is Leighton’s Chief Commercial Officer, focused on driving growth through innovative software solutions that transform how organisations meet customer needs and achieve meaningful digital transformation. With over 21 years of experience in commercial leadership spanning roles in account management, client services, and strategic partnerships, Claire brings a deep understanding of how to align technology with business outcomes.

Before joining Leighton, Claire worked across the digital landscape with companies including Branded3, Search Laboratory, and Communicator Corp, helping clients enhance performance and customer engagement through data-led marketing and technology.


How we're helping organisations modernise with AWS

At Leighton, we help organisations modernise legacy systems, accelerate digital delivery and unlock new value through AWS.

As an AWS Advanced Tier Partner, our approach combines deep technical expertise with real-world delivery experience, from enterprise migration projects to cloud-native application development and serverless transformation.

Our AWS-certified team works side by side with clients to design, build, and optimise solutions that deliver measurable outcomes, improving scalability, reducing costs and enabling faster innovation.

Whether you're migrating legacy systems, modernising your applications or launching new products, we bring the experience, mindset, and collaborative approach to help you move forward with confidence.

Cloud Migration & Replatforming

Application Modernisation

Severless & Cloud-Native Development

Well-Architected Framework Reviews & Optimisation

Recent highlights with AWS

From enterprise delivery to community leadership, here are a few of our latest AWS success stories.

Delivering the Avios Shop in 14 weeks with AWS

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We partnered with IAG Loyalty to build the Avios Shop, an AWS-powered eCommerce platform delivered in just 14 weeks with a six-person team. Using event storming and domain-driven design, we accelerated time to market on a project initially expected to take two years, launching confidently to two million customers.

Learn more
Smiling man wearing a black AWS t-shirt waving with his right hand on stage with bright red lights in the background.

Bringing the AWS community together at AWS North Community Conference

This October we held our inaugural AWS North, a community-led conference that brought together 150+ AWS practitioners, 24 world-class speakers, and six AWSHeroes for a day of learning, collaboration, and inspiration. Focused on migration, modernisation, and serverless innovation, the event showcased the strength of the AWS ecosystem in the North East and celebrated the community driving it forward.

Learn more

Reducing global lounge app costs by 96% with AWS serverless modernisation

We partnered with British Airways to rebuild their global lounge app on AWS in a fully serverless architecture, slashing infrastructure costs by more than 96%and delivering scalable, high-performing user experiences across 60+ lounges worldwide.

Learn more

Recognised by AWS. Trusted by industry. Certified at scale.

As an AWS Advanced Tier Partner, we’re proud to be recognised for our deep technical expertise and contribution to the AWS community. Our team includes an AWS Serverless Hero, multiple AWS Community Builders, and over 100 AWS certifications and accreditations across cloud-native, migration, and modernisation disciplines.

Recognised for our deep technical expertise and customer success in implementing AWS solutions.

Home to an AWS Hero, recognised globally for AWS innovation and leadership.

Home to three AWS Community Builders driving collaboration and sharing expertise.

Backed by 100+ AWS certifications and accreditations across our technical team.

Let's meet in Las Vegas

Heading to re:Invent? We’d love to connect. Whether you want to talk about modernisation, migration or how AWS can help your organisation deliver faster, our team will be in Las Vegas all week, ready to share ideas, insights and opportunities to collaborate.

Thank you! A member of the team will reach out to you!
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