He joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 1969 and served in the British embassies in Bonn and Moscow, and with the British Military Government in Berlin, as well as senior posts at the FCO. He was Deputy High Commissioner, New Delhi, 1985–88; Ambassador to the German Democratic Republic 1988–90; Deputy Under Secretary of State (Defence) at the FCO 1990–92; and Ambassador to Germany 1993–97.
