Neil moved to Dorset in 1993 and shortly after began working at the Defence Research Agency in Portland. Following privatisation in 2001 he was part of QinetiQ Underwater Systems which was then acquired by Atlas Elektronik UK in 2009. After 10 years running the Submarine Systems business, Neil became a Director of the company in 2019 with responsibility for business development. In 2020 he helped launch the South West Regional Defence & Security Cluster, and became Chair of the Steering Group, promoting innovation by collaboration.