I am proud to be the fourth generation of the Swan family to work for the company. As Managing Director I am committed to expanding the business into new markets by building on our firm foundation of trust, experience and a passion for our industry.
I joined the company in 2002 to launch the new Carbon Nanomaterials business – just one of the products which demonstrate our drive for innovation. I took over as Managing Director in 2006 and, in addition to my responsibilities to Thomas Swan, I currently sit on the Board of Innovate UK, the Chemical Industries Association and the Chemistry Growth Partnership. I also chair the Advisory Board of the Centre for Education Collaboration at York University.
After graduating from Durham University in 1998 I started my working life as a Scientific Affairs Manager for Monsanto Plc. - followed by two years at Regester Larkin Ltd., providing technical and scientific advice to major international companies. My focus is now on leading Thomas Swan into an exciting new future, developing our credentials as an innovative global player and to maintain our core values of outstanding quality and customer service.
As Finance Director I am responsible for the finance and Information Technology functions at Thomas Swan which include financial and management reporting, banking/legal relationships, and the supervision of the finance /IT teams.
Since joining the company in 1998 I have also acted as Finance Director for several of our start-up ventures, including Screen Technology Ltd (up to its admission to AIM in 2005 after raising £8M) and BioDynamics Research Ltd (prior to its acquisition by Quotient BioResearch Group in 2008).
After graduating in Mathematics at Newcastle University, I qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1988 with Price Waterhouse, where I worked as an audit manager. Prior to joining Thomas Swan I gained experience in finance and general management roles in a variety of service, contract and manufacturing companies.
I believe it is vitally important that the core values of the company are maintained as we expand our business activities on a more global scale. Our business is built on strong foundations, which puts us in the ideal position to develop and exploit a wide range of opportunities for growth.
After joining Thomas Swan in 2009, I managed the technical functions across all of our three business Divisions - before being appointed as Commercial Director for Custom Manufacture in 2012.
This is a highly bespoke service and my role involves building strong and lasting relationships - so we, and the companies we supply, can respond to evolving market requirements. I work closely with all of our customers, whatever their size or requirements, and whether it’s a one-off job or a regular production requirement. This enables us to ensure that their projects are delivered with the highest standards of service, confidentiality and expertise. My goal is to tailor the flexibility and manufacturing capability of the Division to meet changing customer requirements and to supply every project on budget and on time.
After gaining my doctorate in Organic Chemistry from the University of Salford in 1995 and spending some time lecturing at University, I moved into industry to lead research and process scale up groups in contract research and manufacturing organisations serving the fine chemicals and pharmaceutical sectors for fourteen years, prior to joining Thomas Swan. This has given me a depth of experience, insight and specialist expertise which has, I believe, often proved to be invaluable to our customers.
I joined Thomas Swan as Business Director, Performance Chemical Division in October 2015. I have extensive international experience in growing a global business and championing new product development.
My focus is to grow the Performance Chemicals Division by maintaining our core markets whilst launching innovative new products that will further underpin Thomas Swan’s technology leading position.
Previously employed for 30 years at AkzoNobel Performance Coatings, I progressed through the ranks from Development Chemist to Technical Service Manager; Business Development Manager, Sales Manager and finally Business and Marketing Director for Protective Coatings. In my career I have lived and worked in Greece, Cyprus, Japan and latterly China.
I am looking forward to an exciting and challenging career at Thomas Swan, a company renowned for its quality driven approach and ambitious plans for future growth.
I have been President of Swan Chemical Inc. (SCI) since 1997. Swan Chemical Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Thomas Swan & Company Ltd, with headquarters in Lyndhurst, New Jersey and responsibility for activities in the Americas.
I am delighted to be overseeing the expansion of Thomas Swan in the Asia/Pacific area. Over 14% of the company’s global business is into Asia and the Far East, and we are planning to grow that figure significantly over the coming years. My role is to provide local leadership from our regional hub in Shanghai, operating in our customers own time zone and providing them with immediate support.
My primary focus within Thomas Swan is to develop the research and development capability within the company. Thomas Swan is taking significant steps towards developing their technical excellence to establish a world-class scientific and technical position within the industry. My task is to develop a disciplined, motivated and highly capable research base to deliver the company’s growing commercial aspirations.
I have a real passion for manufacturing excellence. It’s a passion which is encouraged and evident throughout the company and which I always strive to bring to my role as Operations Manager. I see my job as a strategic leader, motivator and facilitator. Enabling the company to work more efficiently and effectively to consistently produce superior results.
We achieve this by following our strategy, setting high standards, goals, delivering operational efficiencies and addressing critical issues with experienced and empowered teams. We never stand still – the company is investing millions in an ongoing programme of upgrades to equipment, technologies, systems and we are constantly looking to introduce cutting edge innovations.
I bring 30 years’ experience to the role, having begun my career in the nuclear power industry then joining Thomas Swan in 1986. Working up through the ranks from Plant Manager to my current role in 2005. I take a high-energy, highly-focused approach to operations ensuring synergy throughout the business.
As QHSE Manager, my role is to ensure that all of our products are not only manufactured to a high quality standard, but also safely. We achieve this by maintaining close links with production, our objective to completely eradicate accident rates which are already well below industry standard.
The health and wellbeing of our employees is of the highest priority for the company, as is our impact on the micro and macro environments in which we operate including, of course, the local community. With this always in mind, we are constantly monitoring our systems and processes to ensure we achieve or exceed best practice in all areas.
I started with Thomas Swan in 1974 as a Junior Chemist in R&D. Over the next 23 years I progressed to become group leader of various departments - including the polyurethane department, process development and contract support.
Whilst maintaining close links to R&D, I moved to the Quality Department in 1997 initially as Senior Analyst. I became QC Manager in 2004 and Quality Manager in 2008. I took on responsibility for the HSE functions of the company as QHSE Manager in 2009.
With over 20 years’ experience in the chemical sector, I joined Thomas Swan in December 2000 and was promoted to my current position in April 2011. I lead a team responsible for production planning, purchasing, warehousing and transport.
The logistics department aims to provide a consistent, reliably fast and efficient service to all customers. Ensuring that we deliver quality products and customer support is, of course, pivotal to the success of our business.
Key elements of my department’s role include making sure that customer orders are planned, manufactured and delivered on time to agreed specification. We determine priorities with regard to customer despatch dates and direct all resources to meet business objectives and customer demands. This involves pre-empting any possible problems and delays, initiating any corrective actions necessary and troubleshooting the operational difficulties that occasionally occur in any operation with our ever-extending global reach.
I am committed to achieving the highest standards of performance, quality and health & safety – and to positive change, team building and people development.
My career in HR began 20 years ago in the public sector where I qualified as an HR Practitioner with the CIPD. The last 15 years have been spent working for a motor retail business leading a small team to deliver a whole range of HR services including a number of sales and acquisitions of individual businesses, managing volume recruitment, large scale restructures and achieving IiP and Best Companies accreditation.
I joined Thomas Swan in March 2016 as HR Manager. This was a newly created role for the business and shows the company’s commitment to look after its people. Thomas Swan has an ambitious 5 year strategy and developing the people is a key part of this. My role is a full generalist HR role which includes developing policies, implementing best practice, supporting managers and employees, recruitment, training and development and ensuring the company complies with employment law. This role is a fantastic opportunity to shape how people are managed and developed, in every business, the workforce is its biggest investment and managing people well can make a massive difference to company performance.
Thomas Swan has a well-established, loyal workforce which is a key strength in delivering excellent customer service. However, every company has its challenges and part of my role is to ensure that the business is ready for the future by recruiting the right skills and maintaining a steady stream of Apprentices to maintain knowledge and experience. Thomas Swan as a strong set of values, the main reason I wanted to work here, and I am enjoying the challenge of ensuring the values are part of everything we do.