Glass Futures announces leadership transition

St Helens-based Glass Futures has named Justin Kelly as its new chief executive, succeeding founding chief executive Richard Katz, who has been appointed president.

A chartered engineer, Justin brings nearly three decades of experience from Siemens, where he served on the executive management board, and a proven track record in sustainability through his leadership roles at the Sustainable Materials and Manufacturing Centre and Sustainable Ventures North.

Richard Katz, who was the very first Glass Futures employee, will now focus on governmental collaboration to advance industrial decarbonisation research and innovation.

Aston Fuller, general manager at Glass Futures, said: “Having been the second employee at Glass Futures, I’m extremely proud to see the exponential growth of the organisation in such a short period of time.

“These important changes will support our growth and impact with our ever-growing diverse membership across the global glass supply chain sharing our collaborative ethos, to our own team who’ve developed and grown our vision”

“I look forward to continuing to support our members on this journey through an ever-changing world of sustainability and resource efficiency technologies alongside Justin and Richard in the coming years.”

Established as a not-for-profit organisation, Glass Futures enables the glass industry to experiment with low-carbon energy solutions at its £75 million 165,000 sq.ft Global Centre of Excellence in St Helens, Merseyside, a facility designed to pioneer sustainable glass manufacturing.

Board member Mike Houghton added: “On behalf of the board we would like to thank Richard Katz for his valuable contributions over the last 10+ years as chief executive, turning a vision into reality.

“Also, great thanks to Guardian Glass’ Dr Richard Hulme who was instrumental in ensuring Glass Futures’ technical strategy reflected our members’ needs.”

“We welcome Justin to Glass Futures as we move into the next phase of the organisation’s evolution as an operational research facility.

“His wealth of experience in leadership, strategy, transformation, sustainability, marketing, governance and a passion for responsible business will be indispensable to the continued growth of Glass Futures towards a sustainable and innovative future.”

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