After 18 years on the Additives buying team for the largest Lubricants marketer in the world, my offer to clients is as follows:

To Chemicals companies:

• how to sell into the performance-driven Lubricants industry

To Lubricants and Grease manufacturers:

• making appropriate purchasing decisions, so maximising both procurement flexibility and supply security while minimising complexity
• integrating HSE compliance (Regulatory compliance, reputational and operational) into product development and/or procurement processes
• optimising Quality systems for blending and laboratory efficiency

To all clients:

• Developing and implementing Procurement strategies
• Knowledge Management for enhanced business effectiveness
• Managing data for divestments
• Empowering people
• Technical training
• Technical writing and communications

I have 25 years experience of managing R&D programmes in commodity chemicals, oil refining, process optimisation, blue sky research, and both specification-driven B2B and emotion-led B2C environments.

• BSc (Sp Hons) Chemistry, University of Sheffield
• PhD, University of Sheffield
• CChem MRSC
• Member of the American Chemical Society and Soociety of Tribologists & Lubricant Engineers

• Advised chemicals companies on their marketing and technology strategies to enhance sales with Lubricants manufacturers.
• Market analysis for both new chemistry and "me too" products
• Demonstrated equivalency of Lubricants additives with 8% cost savings (which covered the costs of testing) in the first year
• Advised venture capitalists on market details to inform investment decisions
• Advised private equity group that was considering investing in a University spin-out
• Wrote company profiles, corporate white papers and other technical publicity material for clients in the Lubricants and broader chemicals industries
• Developed a training course on Lubricants chemistry with multiple levels of access: overview suitable for non-technical staff and/or greater depth for supply chain staff, product managers and product developers.
• Developed and delivered training courses both by lecture and self-learning (linked files on shared servers)

Background in catalysis. PhD in Fischer-Tropsch chemistry, now relevant as Gas to Liquids technology. Postdoctoral research in Ziegler-Natta Chemistry, now relevant in manufacture of metallocene PAOs.
Twelve years (post-doc, ICI, Shell) in innovative analytical chemistry, usually involving synchrotron X-rays (EXAFS, XANES, Scanning Transmission X-ray Microscopy), but also early stage developments of Environmental SEM and Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy. The biggest “hit” of this work was an ESEM study demonstrating that some demulsifying additives, that were intended to remove water from aviation fuel, coated the coalescence filters and prevented any water removal.
Eighteen years as Shell’s signatory on Lubricants additives technical specifications, also managing the Lubricants formulary and Component HSE teams (looking at Regulatory compliance, reputational and operational HSE considerations). I also managed Shell’s Lubricants Quality System for five years (ISO 9001 and ISO 9000:2000 at the time) and its compliance with the emerging ISO/TS 16949 standard from automotive OEMs. I conceived in 2004 and led for 12 years Shell’s “No unpleasant Surprises” initiative with additives companies and their suppliers regarding REACH compliance. This project achieved its target of no Shell product withdrawn from sale due to a REACH registration issue with a purchased chemical component.
I worked on many procurement and supply chain projects, mainly around enhancing optionality for price leverage and/or supply security. I was part of the core technical team when Shell divested its metalworking business to Houghton International in 2011, extracting and then delivering the data pack and a training course to Houghton’s head offices on closure of the deal.

Lubricants additives chemistry, lubricants blending operations, blending equipment, oleochemicals, sulfur carriers, base oils, data management, quality systems, gear oils, hydraulic fluids, grease, sustainability, electric vehicles, motor oil, working capital, Business Continuity Planning, supply security, friction, dispersancy, electric vehicles, transmission fluids, crankcase lubricants, EXAFS, XANES, X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, catalyst characterisation, detergents, dispersants, anti-wear additives, tribology,