"Evolution of the Chemicals Industry" Part 1 of 2-day mini-conferences programme - Hosted Innovate UK and BBSRC

Adrian Higson, Managing Director, Lead Consultant Biobased Products, NNFCC The Bioeconomy Consultants

Adrian is a chartered chemist with over 24 years’ research and consulting experience within the chemical and biobased products industry. Since 2021 he has been the Managing Director of NNFCC, a bioeconomy focussed business consultancy providing market analysis, feedstock availability appraisal and sustainability assessment cross the bioenergy and biobased products sectors. Since joining NNFCC in 2003 Adrian has taken an active role in the development of the bioeconomy including as a member of the UK Industrial Biotechnology Leadership Forum and the Scottish Bioeconomy Council. Prior to joining NNFCC, Adrian was a project manager at SAFC Pharma and held research posts at the University of Dundee and University of Colorado.

Jen Vanderhoven, FREY Consulting

Jen graduated from The University of Sheffield, with a first-class Masters of Biological Sciences in 2004 and a PhD in Biochemistry in 2007. With a 20-plus year progressive career in biotechnology, spanning both higher education and the commercial sector, Jen has held roles in research and development, sales and marketing, business development, and business change and transformation. Jen is currently the COO of the BBIA, and runs her own successful biotechnology consultancy, FREY, which provides expert advice in business development, fundraising, stakeholder engagement, strategic partnerships, policy development, marketing & communications and project management for the biotech sector.

Steve Garbutt, Project Director, Mura Technology

Steve has over 25 years of extensive international experience, working across the water, power, nuclear and chemical sectors. A Chartered Chemical Engineer, Steve has held management positions in process engineering, commissioning and project management. As Project Director for Mura Technology, Steve is currently focused on commissioning and operation of Mura’s first HydroPRS™ site in Teesside, Northeast England.

Nick Smith, Commercial Director, ViridiCO2 Ltd

Nick has been the Commercial Director at ViridiCO2 Limited since 1st December 2023.

Drawn from an early age to the science underpinning our world and later becoming equally fascinated by how scientific advances are brought to the benefit people and plant via companies, Nick obtained degrees in Chemistry and Business and embarked upon a career in the chemicals industry in 1997.

With a thirst to understand the world from multiple perspectives and willing to take on and deliver against big challenges, Nick fulfilled several senior commercial assignments at chemicals giant Bayer MaterialScience (later Covestro) in multiple regions including ten years in Asia. Nick spearheaded the growth of polyurethane coatings technology use in India and carried out award-winning work in China, bringing more sustainable textiles to global brands in multiple industries.

Having developed a deep understanding of the global chemical industry, Nick decided in 2021 to focus on helping early-stage companies get to market and prior to ViridiCO2 led the commercialization and development at Circa Group, a bio-based chemicals producer.

Robert Hardy, Business Development Manager, Gidara Energy

Robert holds a masters degree in Chemistry from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. He has many years experience in global commercial roles in the scientific sector. More recently Rob has been involved in energy transition projects running the global commercial licensing function for Johnson Matthey’s low carbon hydrogen technology which was selected for numerous projects including Hynet in the UK. Rob joined Gidara in January 2024 to lead the commercialisation of the HTW gasification technology for conversion of waste streams to sustainable fuels