Best Startup
At Best Startup UK we track over 130,000 UK startups and over 500,000 people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top London based Chairman operating in the Manufacturing space. If you think a Chairman is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on editor@beststartup.co.uk.
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Companies House UK, Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Charles Spicer
Chairman of Creo Medical
Charles is an experienced director of and adviser to public and private companies primarily in the med-tech sector. He is non-executive chairman of PuriCore plc, IXICO plc and 11 Health. He is a chair of the UK Department of Health’s Invention for Innovation (i4i) Funding Panel. Until recently he was a director of Aircraft Medical (acquired by Medtronic Inc. in December 2015) and Stanmore Implants (acquired by Stryker Inc., April 2016). He was previously chief executive of MDY Healthcare plc, a strategic healthcare investor and, prior to that, head of healthcare corporate finance at both Numis Securities and Nomura International.
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About City & Guilds Group, Creo Medical, Ixico, KwickScreen, MJ Hudson: Creo Medical is a developer of electrosurgical devices.
John Hughes
Chairman of the Board of Directors of Spectris
John Hughes CBE has more than 30 years’ experience leading global, high-technology businesses. He has significant experience of managing growth companies, especially those supplying complex solutions and services to business customers and the development of leadership teams. He previously held senior executive positions at Thales Group, Lucent Technologies and Hewlett Packard, and was non-executive chairman of Intec Telecom Systems plc, a non-executive director of Chloride Group plc and the Vitec Group plc. Until 2015 he was executive chairman of Sepura plc. In 2016 he stepped down as executive chairman of Telecity Group plc. Non-executive chairman of Just Eat plc. Non-executive director of CSG International Inc. and Equinix Inc. (both NASDAQ-listed companies). Ambassador for the Alzheimer’s Society.
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About : Spectris is a supplier of productivity-enhancing instrumentation and controls.
Guy Hands
Chairman of EMI Group
Guy is Terra Firma’s Chairman and Founder. He is the Chief Investment Officer and sits on the boards of the general partner of each of the Terra Firma funds. Guy started his career with Goldman Sachs International where he went on to become Head of Eurobond Trading and then Head of Goldman Sachs’ Global Asset Structuring Group. During this time, Guy was a leading pioneer in the development of securitisation, extending the practice beyond simple debt instruments to include assets such as shopping malls, mobile home parks and distressed loans. Guy left Goldman Sachs in 1994 for Nomura International plc, where he established the Principal Finance Group (‘PFG’). PFG went on to undertake ground-breaking deals involving trains, housing and pubs, among other areas, using securitised debt to finance acquisitions. In 2002, he led the spin-out of PFG to form Terra Firma. Since 1994, Guy has overseen the investment of more than €17 billion in 34 businesses with a total enterprise value of more than €48 billion. Guy has an MA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Mansfield College, Oxford University. He was elected a Global Leader of Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum in 2000 in recognition of his achievements. In 2012, Guy was named the 20th most influential figure in Private Equity International’s ‘100 Most Influential of the Decade’. Guy is the President of ‘Access for Excellence’, a campaign based at Mansfield College, Oxford which promotes the broadest possible access to higher education in the UK. He is a Bancroft Fellow of Mansfield College and supports the college’s Annual Hands Lecture. He is also a member of the University of Oxford Chancellor’s Court of Benefactors. Additionally, Guy is a Fellow of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme.
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About EMI Group, Terra Firma: EMI is a multinational music recording and publishing, and electronics device and systems manufacturing company.
Percy Barnevik
Honorary Chairman of Sandvik
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About Sandvik: Sandvik is an engineering group with products that enhance customer productivity, profitability, and sustainability.
Kazuma Kato
Chairman of Quantum Operation
Kazuma Kato is the Representative Director and Founder of Quantum Operation.
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About Quantum Operation: Quantum Operation manufactures and markets IoT sensors for the medical and nursing industries.
Jeremy Gibbs
Non-Executive Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of Scientific Digital Imaging (SDI)
Jeremy Gibbs is a Non-Executive Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors at Scientific Digital Imaging (SDI) since June 2008. Jeremy was a Chief Executive Officer at Adaptivity Limited, a corporate finance boutique. Jeremy’s early career saw him obtaining management and consultancy positions in British Rail Engineering Limited, Edwards High Vacuum International and The BOC Group plc, all engineering or technology driven companies. Jeremy was a Non-Executive Member of the Board of Directors at Futuremedia plc from 1997 to 2001 and its Chairman of the Board of Directors from 1998 to 2001. Futuremedia was listed on NASDAQ. Jeremy was a Member of the Board of Directors at Synoptics from 2001 to 2008. Jeremy graduated (B.A. & M.A.) from Oxford University in 1978 in Engineering Science, subsequently qualifying as a Chartered Mechanical Engineer and Chartered Electrical Engineer.
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About : Scientific Digital Imaging designs and manufactures digital imaging technology.
George Theobald
Chairman of the Board of Directors of Flame Tree Group
George Theobald is a Non-executive Director at FTG Holdings and currently the Chairman of the board. George has been the driving force behind the growth of a number of East African companies spread out across various sectors. George has lived in East Africa since 1983, after a commission in the British Army and a time in London working as a stockbroker. He worked as the General Manager of Lonrho Tanzania Ltd before founding Tatepa Ltd, where he serves as the Managing Director of the publically listed company (the largest smallholder tea and avocado producer in Tanzania). He is also the Chairman of Kariki Group (a group of flower farms) in Kenya and the Chairman of Nomad Group (a chain of safari lodges) in Tanzania.
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About : Flame Tree Group is a group of companies operating in Kenya, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Mozambique.
Neil Smith
Chairman & Investor of imageHOLDERS
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About Cassini Systems, imageHOLDERS: Tablet Kiosk and Enclosure Manufacturers
Gideon Harbour
Chairman of Optial
Before founding Optial, Gideon Harbour ran the London operations of a private investment trust focusing on technology and real estate. Prior to 1995 he was with the consulting firm McKinsey & Co working in the Sydney and Atlanta offices. At McKinsey he worked with clients in finance, insurance and the steel industry, specializing in change management. Gideon holds an MA from Oxford in PPE (Economics).
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About Optial: Optial is a successful global supplier of Enterprise-wide EHS, Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC).
Peter Horwath
CEO, Chairman of Insolcorp
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About Insolcorp: Insolcorp is the global supplier of Infinite-R Phase Change Materials (PCMs).
Keith Cornell
Chairman of EnOcean
Keith works as the front-end man of Starship. He is responsible for sales and partnerships with commercial customers and local governments. When Keith talks, people listen, and soon thereafter they sign the dotted line. A veteran executive with half of his past career in telecom industry and another half in technologies, Keith has engineered growth in dozens of companies.
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About : EnOcean offers radio frequency communication and other wireless sensor solutions for use in buildings and industrial installations.
