MCA’s Graham Candy reflects on three decades of maritime experience spent shaping standards, building relationships and championing the UK flag.
Fresh from a whirlwind few days at UK Flag Forum 2026, Graham Candy is – for the first time in weeks – enjoying a rare moment of calm. “It’s been frantic recently," he says. “But now it’s back to the ‘day job’ and it’s a joy.”
Graham Candy, MCA Assistant Director of Economic Development and Stakeholder EngagementAfter more than three decades with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, and forty in the civil service, Graham has seen the organisation and indeed the maritime industry transform. Currently MCA’s Assistant Director of Economic Development and Stakeholder Engagement, Graham Candy relocated to the Maritime Safety Agency (MSA) in 1994 after eight years at the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (RCHME).
What followed was not a single career path, but a series of interesting roles that constantly evolved, mirroring a rapidly advancing maritime industry. “I’ve done five or six entirely different jobs here,” he says. “Each has felt like starting something new, with the weight and security of the civil service always behind me.”
The sheer variety of work, combined with the safety and security afforded by a dynamic and focused agency and wider government impetus is what’s kept Graham at the MCA for so long. But he’s clear that the most important element has always been the people. Graham says: “I’ve been so fortunate to be surrounded by maritime world experts and people willing to share what they know.
"Everything I’ve learned about shipping has come from the privilege afforded to me by working alongside brilliant people with their knowledge and experience.”
The digital ageWhen Graham joined the then MSA, offices were a little different. He’s seen and experienced firsthand the meteoric rise of the digital world, and the inevitable transition from typewriters to Teams. “We didn’t have computers – everything was handwritten or typed. Correspondence went between colleagues in grids on trolleys. That was our internal mail,” he recalls with a smile.
Staff at a UK Ship Register stand during an event.And while he’s quick to note that digital workplaces solve many issues, he also celebrates a strong workplace culture – something to be encouraged in the virtual. Graham says: “There seems less time to really delve into things.
“Instant communications bring about a raft of opportunities but also challenges in terms of accuracy and understanding. The spontaneity of new ideas developed by working ‘with people in the room’ is perhaps harder to recreate.”
For Graham though, change has been more often than not been good. His early work closed safety gaps in UK maritime, particularly for smaller vessels, and for the first time, codes were introduced where legislation hadn’t existed – the Workboat Code and the Large Yacht Code as examples.
“It’s always been about raising standards and keeping the unsafe out of the market, working with industry to enhance safety,” he cautions. And many of those code standards didn’t remain domestic – they ‘grew legs’ and headed to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), where they formed the basis of international practice.
Heading overseasIn the 2000s, Graham found himself involved in international projects to support countries in their preparations to join the European Union.
He says: “We were aligning standards, and contrary to some, this was never about lecturing countries on what they needed to do. In fact, many administrations every bit as technically capable; they just needed support on infrastructure.”
It was an altogether humbling experience that Graham continues to speak about fondly, with his passion for opportunity and enhancing international maritime safety forming lasting friendships with maritime colleagues across the globe.
Championing the UK flagSince 2005, Graham’s focus has been on promoting the UK flag through strong relationships with operators and industry. At the heart of this important work is trust.
Graham presenting at a conference.“If companies don’t want to tell you what’s not working, we’re not able to improve,” he says. Over time, the MCA’s approach has shifted in regulatory terms from standards that were exclusive, to something more solution-focused and inclusive.
“Safety has been and will always be, the cornerstone of our flag, but a lot of our work is around myth-busting – showing how we’ve evolved and how we’re communicating with our partners, operators and regulatory colleagues.”
A changing, challenging industryPerhaps one of the biggest transitions Graham’s seen has been a concerted move towards greener fuels and technologies.
“It’s incredibly exciting, but it’s also very complex,” he says. “Unlike some of the previous transitions, there isn’t just one path forward – there are multiple options, and they’re all rapidly developing in tandem.”
For the MCA, the pace of such innovation offers opportunity but also poses entirely new challenges in areas of regulation. Graham adds: “We’re supporting innovation where ‘the rules’ don’t even yet exist – we have to juggle encouragement and progress while making sure it’s safe.”
A question of prideDespite the changes (and the challenges!), Graham’s clear about what motivates him. “I’ve always wanted to feel that I’m making a difference,” he says. And looking back, it’s a collective effort he’d point to, rather than any individual contribution.
“It’s a privilege to be part of an organisation that’s evolved and adapted as we have,” he shares. “We’ve always moved forward, enhanced or improved.”
What's next?
With retirement looming, Graham looks forward to his next chapter (probably, he says, when his daughter is safely through university...) with travel plans of a particularly international variety – he’s not going to stay still.
“I’ve travelled extensively for work, but I’d really like to ‘travel to live’ – I want to experience places, people and culture properly, perhaps living in a country for a year with my wife, really immersing ourselves there before moving onto somewhere else just as exciting.”
After a career spent helping to shape global maritime standards, it then seems only fitting that the wider world could very well be Graham Candy’s oyster.
seen at 09:30, 22 May in Inside MCA.