This week's national appointments

This week’s round up of national appointments includes River Capital, The Materials Processing Institute and Indra. Read on to find out more.

(L - R): Ethan Dent, David Walters, Sarah Moss and Jonathan Newton, River Capital

Following the company’s recent re-brand and relocation to new offices, North West fund manager River Capital continues to invest in its growing team with a series of recent hires and promotions.

David Walters has been promoted to investment director in the Venture team, where he will focus on River Capital’s growing data and artificial intelligence offerings. A chief technology officer by background, David has extensive operational and management knowledge developed in roles leading numerous high-profile data and AI practices.

Ethan Dent is the latest addition to the team, coming on board as marketing manager. With several years of experience across various industries, he will lead the day-to-day marketing and promotional activity of River Capital to support its positioning in the North West financial sector.

Ethan joins other recent recruits Jonathan Newton and Sarah Moss. Having relocated from Leeds, Jonathan joins as an investment manager in the Private Equity team. A chartered accountant by background, Jonathan’s most recent experience was as an associate director in Mazars Corporate Finance Team where he spent six years advising SMEs.

New head of finance, Sarah, brings a wealth of experience in financial management, having held several senior roles at ISS Facility Services UK, including most recently Divisional Finance Director of its £400m healthcare sector.

Sarah will be responsible for all aspects of the finance function of River Capital, helping to drive the business’s growth and supporting its strategic direction and fund-raising initiatives.

(L - R): Dr Lucy Smith, Dr Richard Birley and Professor John Fernie, The Materials Processing Institute

The Materials Processing Institute has appointed Professor John Fernie to the newly created role of chief materials scientist to support the delivery of multi-million pound decarbonisation projects, including the development of new materials and processes required for future technologies.

With more than 30 years’ experience of managing research and development teams, Professor Fernie joined the Teesside based Materials Processing Institute in March 2020 as group manager, advanced materials.

Prior to joining the Institute, he worked for TWI (The Welding Institute) in Cambridge, the Atomic Weapons Establishment in Aldermaston, and has acted as a freelance technical consultant.

Furthermore, Dr Richard Birley takes up the role as group manager, advanced materials, whilst Dr Lucy Smith takes up the role of group manager, circular economy at the institute.

Dr Richard Birley is an experienced and dynamic engineering and environmental manager, who rose to become a senior engineer within the RAF, working in a variety of challenging environments around the world. On leaving the military, he became a project manager for a research intelligence company, before becoming Fuel Efficiency Manager at First Group.

As group Manager, advanced materials, Richard will be responsible for delivering a number of large projects, both European and UK based. These include the Advanced Materials Characterisation Centre, and the Advanced Materials Development Centre.

Dr Lucy Smith joined the Institute in 2020 as a principal researcher, later becoming technical collaboration lead before moving to the senior management position. As group manager, circular economy, she will lead the development of innovations maximising resource efficiency through manufacturing and process optimisation.

Anthony Jones, Indra

EV and smart energy technology specialist Indra has announced a new member of its executive team, Anthony Jones. Anthony joins as chief financial officer (CFO) at the company’s headquarters in Malvern, Worcestershire.

Anthony is a Chartered Accountant and has more than 25 years of financial operations experience and has held Director positions within organisations such as Wealth Wizards, ip.access and Sendo Mobile Phones.

His experience spans technology, fintech, robo-advice and renewables, all within high growth situations and many internationally. He has assumed financial and legal responsibility for Indra, helping in accelerating its business strategy and managing investor relations.

Commenting on his new role, Anthony said: “Indra is an exciting business and is leading smart EV green technology solutions. I’m looking forward to working with the team to accelerate growth and ensure Indra’s recent investments and resources are managed to deliver maximum results for the business.”

Indra CEO Ady Moores commented on the new appointment:“We are delighted to welcome Anthony to the Indra team. Anthony brings a wealth of business experience, and a successful career with multiple rapid growth technology companies.

“Anthony will play a key role as Indra transitions to its next stage of corporate development and his diverse background in finance, capital markets, and technology applications, will play a key factor in our future growth and add invaluable strength to the Company’s corporate governance initiatives.”

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