Martin Kingman
Trustee
Martin Kingman is a senior legal-commercial leader, entrepreneur, and charity trustee with over twenty-five years’ experience operating at the intersection of law, governance, risk, technology, and people leadership. His career combines regulated legal practice, business turnaround and growth, peer-to-peer leadership, and front-line voluntary service in emergency response.
Professionally, Martin is the Founder and CEO of Pro Legal Group, (www.plc-group.co.uk) a multidisciplinary professional services group bringing together debt recovery, legal services, litigation, compliance, IT, training, and mentoring under one coordinated governance framework. The group was established to solve a recurring problem Martin encountered throughout his career: organisations managing legal, regulatory, financial, cyber, and people risk in silos, often with damaging consequences. His work focuses on translating complexity into practical decision-making for directors, protecting both the individual and the organisation.
Martin originally trained and qualified as a lawyer and is a Fellow of both the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives and Chartered Institute of Credit Management. He worked in 2 large regional law firms rising to become Head of Debt Recovery and Insolvency, where he grew departmental turnover by more than 250% and acted on complex litigation and insolvency matters, including a reported High Court case. He later moved into senior in-house leadership roles, overseeing legal, finance, HR, IT, and quality functions within a £20m-turnover business during a period of restructuring and recovery. He has since advised and supported a wide range of SMEs and boards, including businesses that have scaled significantly under his strategic guidance.
Alongside his commercial work, Martin has long-standing experience in governance and financial inclusion. He served for many years as a board member, Chair, and Supervisory Committee member of the District of Canterbury and latterly the Kent Savers Credit Union, personally authorised by both the PRA and FCA working under their regulatory frameworks to support financially excluded individuals through ethical lending and strong governance. KSCU has subsequently merged with Wave Community Bank (https://wavecb.org.uk/).
Martin’s charity and voluntary work is central to his identity. He is a Trustee and current Head of Unit of Kent Search and Rescue (www.ksar.co.uk) until January 2026, where he also acts as a qualified Search Manager and Planner. In this role, he is the senior interface with Kent Police during live incidents, responsible for planning and coordinating complex search operations involving large volunteer teams, specialist assets, and vulnerable missing persons. He has also held national roles within Lowland Rescue the UK governing body, including Air Services Director, overseeing aviation governance and safety.
In addition, Martin is Chair of the Kent Voluntary Sector Emergency Group (https://www.kentprepared.org.uk/our-volunteer-partners), supporting emergency services and local authorities with resilience and welfare operations during major incidents, and Chair of the Kent Executive Club (www.kentexecutive.club), facilitating peer-level support for senior leaders and professionals.
Personally, Martin is values-driven, calm under pressure, and deeply committed to service. He brings a pragmatic, systems-based mindset, a strong sense of accountability, and an ability to operate effectively in high-trust, high-responsibility environments. Outside work, he enjoys music, technology, reading, walking with Sage his 4 legged companion in the great outdoors, and is known for balancing seriousness of purpose with warmth and humour.
Martin’s experience across regulated environments, charity governance, emergency response, and people-centred leadership enables him to contribute constructively, independently, and thoughtfully at board level—particularly where organisations face complexity, risk, and the need for resilient, compassionate leadership.