Rich has been the Chief Executive at NCC, since 2018. In this role, he leads NCC as a commercial subsidiary of the University of Bristol and sits on the management board of the High Value Manufacturing (HVM) Catapult. Rich is passionate about the role technology and innovation can play in anchoring product leadership. Before joining NCC he spent 25 years in the aerospace industry in a variety of technical, product and business leadership positions. Rich holds a master’s degree in aeronautical engineering and is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society.
Jo is the Chief Business Officer at NCC. In this role, she leads NCC strategy development and implementation alongside the business’s public affairs and marketing functions and its portfolio of strategic industrial and place-based partnerships. Before joining NCC, Jo held senior leadership roles across the public and private sector, all with innovation and partnership working at their core. This included as Director of the Western Gateway (a pan-regional economic partnership), in bp’s Future Mobility and Solutions business, at the Royal Society (the UK’s National Science Academy), and as a Senior Civil Servant with responsibility for Horizon Scanning and Emerging Technologies. Jo is also currently Chair of Hydrogen South West.
Katy Riddington brings over 20 years of experience in advanced engineering, having worked in leading-edge, innovation-driven organisations. She spent the early part of her career at Rolls-Royce, where she led complex global programmes and managed operational delivery teams within the Marine sector. During this time, she developed expertise in building and leading diverse, cross-functional teams to drive innovative change. Katy joined NCC in 2015 and is responsible for delivering the customer portfolio across all sectors including Aerospace, Defence, Energy, and Space. She plays a pivotal role in shaping NCC’s service offering to support transformational growth for UK businesses across manufacturing and engineering. These services help increase productivity and ensure that the right skills are available at the right time and in the right place to anchor innovation and stimulate industrial growth.
Mark joined NCC in 2022, bringing the benefits of his multi-sectoral and diverse career to his role. Mark is accountable for development of step change and disruptive technologies. Mark followed his apprenticeship with roles in multiple industrial sectors in the UK and beyond, focusing on manufacturing systems, engineering, programme management, and in-service support. While working Mark studied and gained a degree in Manufacturing Systems, leading to a move into a research-focused role at Airbus as a Senior Researcher, progressing to become Head of Manufacturing Research. Mark moved into a leadership position with the Aerospace Technology Institute in 2015 to deliver programmes that supported the national aerospace strategy. Mark joined the National Physical Laboratory in 2019 to lead Advanced Engineering activities, generating national and international impact through innovation programmes.
Tim leads the Operations functions at NCC, and is responsible for all aspects of finance, people, estates, IT, procurement, commercial, legal, compliance and governance matters. Tim brings extensive experience from the Higher Education and Research sectors. He joined NCC from the University of Bristol, where he was Finance Director for the faculties of Engineering, Social Science, and Arts, as well as all Professional Services. Prior to the University Tim worked at the Natural Environment Research Council (part of UKRI), and at the National Oceanographic Centre, Southampton.
Richard started at NCC in 2017 following a 20+ year career in Aerospace and Defence companies where he held roles including Chief Engineer for a several Helicopters at Leonardo, Head of Design at GKN and Engineering Manager at Thales Defence. He is a Chartered Engineer with a Masters in Aerospace Engineering and Bachelors in Electronic Engineering but considers most of his engineering knowledge to have come from projects in his workshop, motorcycle maintenance and repairing things that his children have broken. His current role at NCC as Executive Director for Engineering and Defence draws on a combination of the above life experience to lead a team of 250 engineers through a wide variety of projects, whilst also looking after £100m+ of state-of-the-art advanced manufacturing facilities.
Group Director Climate, Environment & Infrastructure BAE Systems Plc Dr Deborah Allen is a chemist by background and has more than 30 years sustainability experience across both consultancy and industry. Currently leading the global programmes on climate resilience, environment and infrastructure at BAE Systems. Deborah is vice chair and non-executive director of the EM3 Local Enterprise Partnership and chairs the Green Defence Task Force for the European Aerospace, Defence and Security (ASD) group of companies. Deborah also serves as a trustee for the BAE Systems Executive Pension Scheme.
Zoe Barnes has worked in the wind industry for 19 years, initially in R&D for a turbine manufacturer and more recently in offshore wind strategic consultancy. In 2019 Zoe was part of the leadership team establishing Quaybridge, an independent offshore wind developer. Zoe is currently a partner in Everoze, working primarily within Quaybridge, work is primarily focused on innovation, supply chain and industry strategic development. Zoe is also a NED for OWGP and is currently co-chairing the UK FLOW Task Force Working Groups.
Dr Ruth Mallors-Ray is a consultant facilitating discussions between industry, government and academia. Ruth’s current portfolio spans a range of sectors including manufacturing, aviation and emergent sectors such as Hydrogen.
Ruth has also held positions as the Chief Operating Officer of the Aerospace Technology Institute and Director of the Aerospace, Aviation and Defence Knowledge Transfer Network to develop a deep understanding of how government, industry and academia work together on innovation agendas.
Ruth supports NCC, not only with a wide understanding of innovation, but also diverse sectoral experience with a career involving professional services, retail, engineering and oil and gas. Ruth holds a BSC and PhD in Chemistry, is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and was awarded an OBE in 2015 for services in science and innovation.
