Our Management Team
Directors
Managing Director:Geoff Hatton, the craft’s inventor, is the Managing Director. He has a wealth of engineering and production experience in a number of industries, in particular the design and development of hovercraft in both the UK and Canada.
Chairman:Marco Cereste’s background is in finance and business development. He is a non-executive director of the East of England Development Agency (EEDA); a director of Standard Life Healthcare Ltd.; Chairman of the Peterborough Primary Care Trust and Managing Director of Premier Finishing Ltd.
The Non-Executive Directors, who all have board level experience in SME and larger companies, contribute to the company’s development by working hands-on in specific areas, as follows:
Michael Evans – Legal/commercial. Michael has just retired from a long and distinguished career as a commercial lawyer, his most recent appointment being Head of Commercial Services at Greenwoods LLP.
John Lawrence – Engineering design, innovation and project management. John is an independent consultant specialising in innovation, design and engineering. He spent many years with large international organisations – including Perkins Engines – working throughout the world at director level on major engineering projects.
Michael Mockridge MBE - Michael is an independent defence sector consultant, specialising in innovative equipment for clients throughout the world. His early career was as an army officer and in military technical procurement.
David Steel – Marketing and business development. David has operated as an independent management consultant for the past fifteen years, specialising in business development and profit improvement. Previously he was a managing director with GKN plc responsible for industrial services companies in both Europe and the USA.
Mark Broughton – a marketing and public relations consultant with considerable experience of the defence market. Mark’s early career was as an infantry officer and subsequently he has worked for several major defence companies in a variety of marketing and communications roles.
Consultants
The company employs a number of consultants to advise it in its development, the most significant of these is:
Dr Holger Babinsky – Reader in Aerodynamics, Cambridge University - provides flight theory input and participates in project review meetings. Holger’s research work covers the whole range of aerodynamics from power kites and Formula 1 cars to the understanding of supersonic flows. A focus of his work is the study of transonic and supersonic flow phenomena, such as wing flows and helicopter blade flows.