James Lambert – Non-executive Chairman

James was appointed Chairman in October 2005 having been a non-executive director since 2003. He started at Richmond Foods in 1998 leading a series of acquisitions to make Richmond the largest ice cream manufacturer by volume in the UK. He has a strong record of making money for shareholders; Richmond exited the stock market in April 2006 when it was bought by Oaktree Capital for £176 million and merged with Roncadin. James is now running the enlarged group which is one of the largest in Europe. 

Stephen Wildridge – Group Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Animalcare Limited

Stephen was appointed Group Chief Executive Official on 1^st April 2010. Stephen spent 16 years with Rhone-Poulenc (now Sanofi-Aventis) in a variety of Sales, Marketing, Strategic Planning and General Management roles encompassing agro-chemicals, animal health and animal nutrition. Subsequently, he spent five years with Monsanto as General Manager of Operations for Northern Europe. He was appointed Managing Director of Animalcare in April 2003, and has developed the strategic plan for the business and the new product development programme. He sat on the board of the National Office for Animal Health (NOAH) between 2007 and 2010. 

Nick Downshire – Non-executive Director

Nick Downshire has been a non-executive director of Animalcare Group since 1998. He trained as a Chartered Accountant with Touche Ross before transferring to the corporate finance department where he worked for three years on acquisitions, flotations and new ventures. Following this he worked for 13 years at Scheduling Technology Group Limited, a venture capital backed international software company, becoming Finance Director up until the sale of the business in 2001. He currently manages an estate in Yorkshire and also holds non-executive directorships of a hotel business, an RFID company, a Lloyd’s underwriting company and Farmway, an agriculture products supplier. 

 

Iain Menneer –  Director of Marketing and Company Secretary 

Iain has a PhD in chemistry from the University of Newcastle and worked in the brewing industry for 6 years in research at an independent brewing consultancy and then in new product and technical development roles at Bass Brewers. Subsequently, he spent 2 years in the Research and Innovation Office at the University of York working with academics to commercialise their research via licensing or spin-out companies. He joined Animalcare Ltd in December 2003, and has worked in marketing and business development roles, notably working on the new product development pipeline. Iain has been Head of Marketing since July 2009.

 

Ray Harding – Non-executive Director

Ray Harding, aged 61, was until 2010 owner Managing Director of Cyton Bioscience Ltd., a multi-service consultancy for both animal health and pharmaceutical industries. Ray remains a Consultant for Cyton advising and providing training on new product development and registration in Europe.

 

Ray has been both Chairman of the Association of Veterinarians in Industry and President of the Federation of European Veterinarians in Industry and Research.  In addition, Ray is a member of the Institute of Directors and is a Fellow of The Organisation for Professionals in Regulatory Affairs.

 

Earlier in his career, Ray has held positions at Glaxo Animal Health in the United Kingdom and Rhône Mérieux in France. He is a qualified veterinarian having completed his Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine and been admitted into the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.