Harry graduated from Durham University with a degree in Plant Sciences in 1998 and started working life as the Scientific Affairs Manager in the London Office of Monsanto Plc. He subsequently worked for two years at Regester Larkin Ltd., a London-based consultancy, as a specialist public relations consultant providing technical and scientific advice to major international companies on crisis and reputation risk management.

Harry joined Thomas Swan & Co. Ltd. in 2002 to launch the new Carbon Nanomaterials Business. In April 2006 he took up the position of Managing Director. As the great grandson of the founder, ‘Tommy’ Swan, he is the 4th generation of the Swan family to work at the company. He became the owner and CEO of the business in 2018.

In addition to his work for the family business, Harry is also a Trustee of the Society of Chemical Industry (SCI) and a Member of Council of the UK Chemical Industries Association (CIA).

Harry has been actively involved in various innovation bodies during his career. He is a member of the Chemistry Council and was the first chair of the Chemistry Council Innovation Committee (2018-2020), establishing the Committee and steering its work to develop the Strategy and Sector Deal. He was formerly a Non-Executive Director on the board of Innovate UK.

In 2014 Harry was appointed Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Centre for Industry Education Collaboration (CIEC). CIEC aims to create and sustain links between schools and industry to inspire the next generation of children.

Harry was appointed as the 2016 David Goldman Visiting Professor of Innovation and Enterprise at Newcastle University Business School.

Harry is a member of the Durham Cathedral Investment Committee.

Harry is married, has four boys and lives near Barnard Castle in County Durham in the North East of England.

As Finance Director I am responsible for the finance and Information Technology functions at Thomas Swan which include financial and management reporting, banking/legal relationships, and the supervision of the finance /IT teams.

Since joining the company in 1998 I have also acted as Finance Director for several of our start-up ventures, including Screen Technology Ltd (up to its admission to AIM in 2005 after raising £8M) and BioDynamics Research Ltd (prior to its acquisition by Quotient BioResearch Group in 2008).

After graduating in Mathematics at Newcastle University, I qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1988 with Price Waterhouse, where I worked as an audit manager. Prior to joining Thomas Swan I gained experience in finance and general management roles in a variety of service, contract and manufacturing companies.

I believe it is vitally important that the core values of the company are maintained as we expand our business activities on a more global scale. Our business is built on strong foundations, which puts us in the ideal position to develop and exploit a wide range of opportunities for growth.

As the former President and Managing Director of Dow UK, Eire & Nordic, past President of the Chemical Industries Association and more recently as the Chief Operating Officer and Executive Board member of Nanoco Group Plc., I bring considerable experience and knowledge to Thomas Swan from a career that has spanned thirty years in the chemical industry.

Alison is an experienced entrepreneur and non-executive director. Her career has spanned scientific research at Zeneca plc, strategy consultancy at McKinsey & Company, investment and business building at IP Group plc and she is currently a board member of Zotefoams plc, Nanoco Group plc, Maven Income and Growth VCT plc and the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland.

Alison holds an MBA from Manchester Business School, a PhD in Organic Chemistry and a First-Class degree in Chemistry from the University of Glasgow.

As the Strategy and Futures Director at the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) and the former Director of Strategy and Planning for ICI’s Petrochemicals, Plastics and Fertilizers Business, I bring a substantial level of experience and expertise to the Thomas Swan Board as the company looks to grow through new product development and targeted investments in the UK and overseas.

I have a Degree in Metallurgy, a PhD from the University of Cambridge and an MBA. I am a Chartered Engineer, a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce and a Fellow of the Institute of Directors. I have been a Visiting Professor at Salford University and Teesside University as well as being a member of the board of Northumbria University in Newcastle and I have a particular interest in Resource Efficient Manufacturing Systems.