My professional journey

I was brought up in Fulham, West London, and attended The London Oratory School. The school was very strict but that set me up with a strong sense of respect, self discipline determination. We may have hated the strictness at the time, all I can say is that we came out of it OK.

My professional journey started within the NHS pathology laboratories at Charing Cross Hospital in Hammersmith, London.
During these early years in the NHS, I gained extensive experience across multiple disciplines, including Microbiology, Haematology, Histology, and Biochemistry. Following my initial training, I specialised in Biochemistry and worked in all departments of the Chemical Pathology laboratory until 1983.

I was encouraged to transitioned into the commercial sector of science by a colleague who recruited for the industry. 

My first position was with a leading distributor, Lab Impex, located in Teddington, London. The owner, Bruce Morris, has since become a close friend and mentor, and our families have had vacations together. Bruce's exemplary work ethic and collaborative values fostered a true team culture in which all members, from the CEO to the cleaner, worked together to get the job done. 

During my time at Lab Impex, we successfully launched various products into the UK and Irish markets. 

I was responsible for introducing significant innovations, including the Bactec blood culture system by Becton Dickinson, a robotic liquid handling platform from Tecan, a blood gas analyser from AVL, and a gamma counter from Berthold. The first two products represented cutting-edge advancements in the field, which posed an exciting challenge disrupting existing methodology.

Conversely, the latter two were competing within established markets, making those sales efforts more nuanced.

Operating as a distributor presents unique challenges; excelling can lead to a parent company opting for direct sales, while failing to perform can result in losing the distributorship. However, under Bruce's guidance, we always strived for excellence, even if it meant relinquishing exclusive distribution rights.

Ultimately, both Becton Dickinson and Tecan shifted to a direct sales model. 

I briefly joined Miles Laboratories (Bayer) to manage their histology portfolio before being approached by Becton Dickinson to act as the Field Sales Manager for microbiology products and to develop a sales team.

During my decade-long tenure at Becton Dickinson, I established a robust sales team and gained exposure to product management and marketing. Eventually, I joined the senior management steering team, ascending to the role of Director for Northern Europe. I played a key role in the merger of Roche’s microbiology portfolio into Becton Dickinson's United Kingdom offerings and managed the integration of a Scotland-based facility producing microbiology media, ensuring the seamless transition of staff and operations. We increased sales and profit year on year and made Becton Dickinson a leading force within the microbiology sector.

In the late 1990s, I moved to Roche following their acquisition of Boehringer Mannheim, where I was appointed Head of Marketing. My mandate involved building a team of marketing managers to shift the company from a product- and sales-led organisation to one focused on marketing strategy. We managed a diverse portfolio of products including multi-channel clinical chemistry analysers, point-of-care devices, and molecular diagnostics. Collaborating with a marketing consultancy firm, some of whom I had previously worked with, we utilised their Alchemist software platform to significantly enhanced operational efficiency.

After successfully establishing the marketing group, I made the decision to join that consultancy group, where I worked with various diagnostic and pharmaceutical companies on marketing training, product strategies, and lifecycle management.

In 2000, I was offered a position with LGC, formerly known as the Laboratory of the Government Chemist, to commercialise their life sciences offerings. An opportunity arose within their small forensic division amidst a market dominated by the government run Forensic Science Service, which held around 90% market share. By hiring an experienced sales team, we significantly disrupted the market landscape, expanding to seven regional laboratories specialising in serious crime and volume crime DNA analysis, firearms, toxicology, trace evidence, and digital forensics. I led LGC Forensics for seven years, building a formidable team of over 250 staff and captured substantial market share.

Following my time at LGC, I received an offer to join Olympus in a UK board position, where I was involved with their clinical and research microscopes and market-leading clinical chemistry multichannel analysers. I led a strong team of 125 staff in sales, marketing, client services and technical services, where we doubled turnover. In 2008, when Olympus agreed to sell its scientific division to Beckman Coulter, I managed the complex transition of assets, contracts, and personnel, ensuring no customers were lost and that all staff retained employment.

When the transition was completed, I took on a non-executive role at Reagent Delivery Systems, a startup focused on encapsulating reagents for the point-of-care market. Despite raising initial funding, we were unable to secure sufficient investment to launch the venture. However, during this period, I was introduced to an innovative PCR thermocycler, which eventually led me to join Epistem and commercialise the Genedrive product.

Over three years, we explored various markets, especially in infectious disease testing, ultimately conducting TB tests across India. However, product sample preparation required extensive redesign. 

The company Chairman was Chairman for another diagnostic company. The redevelopment of Genedrive delayed the need for commercialisation which prompted an invitation to join his other company, Premaitha, which specialised in non-invasive prenatal testing. I took the role of Chief Commercial Officer, building a distributor network and promoting our own clinical laboratory offering as a send away services.

In this role I managed commercial directors in the UK, France, and Germany while personally managing complex distributor operations in the Middle East. 

By the end of 2019, new opportunities emerged, prompting me to consult for various companies in the foetal and women’s health sector.

One notable collaboration was with ANGLE, which had developed the Parsortix platform. Originally designed to capture circulating foetal cells, it had pivoted towards oncology, focusing on circulating tumour cells. I collaborated with their Canadian team to explore potential opportunities within the foetal cell market. While non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) had become mainstream, we identified promising avenues in the realm of monogenic disorders.

I was soon invited to join ANGLE as a full-time employee rather than continuing as a consultant.

Initially, I focused on establishing connections with corporate partners, transitioning into the role of Senior Vice President for Commercial Operations. I successfully built a comprehensive commercial team that included sales, marketing, product management, technical services, and application specialists, along with a global distributor network comprising 30 distributors.

By 2024, the commercial team was performing effectively and was well-positioned for future growth.

Drawing upon my extensive experience across various scientific sectors, I am now committed to supporting startups in their advancement.

In 2025 I was contacted by the Chairwoman, Elaine Warburton and the CEO, Ben Cobb to join the board of ReadyGo™.
The company offers devices and assays designed to simplify diagnostic testing, making it more accessible and decentralized. The devices streamline sample collection and can be integrated with existing tests available on the market. The assays are specifically designed for use on both their innovative diagnostics platforms, and other laboratory-based systems.

ReadyGo products are well-suited for human healthcare and can also be applied in agricultural and veterinary diagnostics and forensic settings.
This is a company with great innovative products, thoughtful design, well motivated staff redy to hit the big time.