A little more about me. I studied Aeronautical Engineering at Salford University followed by 6 years as a business manager for a newly set up franchise business, Bodyshield. I then progressed in 1983 to Autoroofs (a designer and manufacturer of removable glass sunroofs for cars) where I managed their installation centre, organised national and international training courses and was involved in the development of new variants of sunroofs. Moving to Gemini Elettronica, an importer of advance automotive electronics from Italy, I was its sales and technical director.

In 1993, I was a shareholder and director of a new company called SEMPAL Ltd, a subsidiary of the Italian automotive company SPAL Automotive Srl founded in 1959. By 2009, I was also managing director of THD (UK) Ltd a company manufacturing medical devices for surgical use in the colorectal sector. I helped establish and manage the growth of the Group’s medical division in the UK which involved developing partnerships with NHS and private hospitals.

The year previously I helped the Group manage the merger of Sempal into SPAL Automotive UK and was then responsible for the expansion and development of a range of high tech thermal management projects. 

The result was a rise in automotive sales profitability and turnover. Between 2008 and 2023, this increase was tenfold. Securing strong brand reputations for customer service backed up by high quality products was a challenge I relished in what were, very competitive marketplaces.