Management Team
David Evans - Chairman
An experienced FTSE Director for 30 years with a record of overseeing exceptional shareholder value growth. An electronics engineer at GEC-Marconi, culminated in heading up the Neston Underwater Systems Division. He was CEO of Chemring plc from 1999 to 2005. During his time at Chemring, annual turnover increased from £21m to £745m establishing itself as an international market leader. In 2007, he joined Avon Rubber plc as Non-Executive Director in May 2007 when the market cap was £10M and was appointed non- Executive Chairman in February 2012 where the current market cap is now £350M. He sits on the Executive committee of ADS, ADS is the Premier Trade Organisation for companies in the UK Aerospace, Defence, Security and Space Sector.
Nick Crofts - CEO
A dynamic and growth-driven CEO with more than 15 years of experience leading international, multisite materials technology companies in critical applications.Trained as a Materials Scientist, he began his career at Raychem before becoming CEO of Amiblu and Mateenbar—two of the most innovative advanced composites companies in the world. With a unique blend of technical expertise and commercial acumen, he has a proven track record of transforming privately owned and private equity-backed businesses, driving accelerated growth and maximising value.
Board of Directors
David Wong
David joined in March 2010 from BOC Edwards, where he ran the ca. £400m global Vacuum Equipment Division. Has deep experience in advanced technology development targeted at the semiconductor and scientific instrument sectors, and in supplying these demanding, technology-driven customers. This, coupled with his breadth of management and operational experience, brings core expertise to the management team.
Jerneja Loncar
Simon King
Simon joined Octopus Ventures in 2012 and sits within the Deep Tech team, focusing on AI and machine learning, advanced materials, semiconductors and Quantum Computing. He sits on the boards of several portfolio companies including Phoelex, Orbex, Dogtooth Technologies and Elvie and previously sat on the board at WaveOptics (acquired by Snap). He also looks after the origination strategy at Octopus Ventures. Simon’s academic background is in Physics, Chemistry and Materials culminating in a PhD in organic electronics from Imperial College London.
Tim Bullock
Tim is a co-founder of New Wave Ventures LLP and leads its investment activities. He had a successful career in finance, with 14 years as a Managing Director with Lloyds TSB. Although coming from a finance background, Tim is more interested in innovation and the management challenges in business. He aims to spread best practice and ideas among the boards on which he represents New Wave.