John has worked in the Renewable Energy Sector for two years, having moved in to the field from an extensive engineering background as a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers. An Oxford graduate in Engineering Science, John went on to spend 12 years working for Ricardo, a world leading automotive engineering consultancy, in a range of technical and commercial roles. He then moved to a role in manufacturing as Commercial Director of MacGavigans, part of Pressac plc, running their automotive plastics division. John then joined Group Lotus, initially running the Group Research and IP operations before becoming Commercial Director of Lotus Engineering. In 2004, John became CEO of Antonov plc, a technology start-up with dual listing on AIM and Euronext, where he raised over £14m to refinance the business, closed the ineffective French operation, set up a new technical centre in the UK and secured a manufacturing joint venture in China. John founded Windcrop in 2009. In the process of setting up the company he carried out extensive research into small-scale renewable energy alternatives, and is able to provide expert comment not only on wind power but solar thermal, photovoltaic and anaerobic digestion systems - as well as the subject of feed-in tariffs. In addition to his work at Windcrop, John also sits on both the technical and strategy committees for Small Wind at RenewableUK and on the MCS BWEA Standard sub-committee.
