Our Team
Dr Keith Phillips
Director of Executive Search
Keith
is a specialist in recruiting key scientists and senior technical executives
for the food and related industries. He has been in executive search since 1994
and has been recruiting scientists since 1987.
He joined the food industry in 1970 where he progressed from a bench scientist
to Director of International Licensing with two blue chip food companies. Before
he co-founded CPL, he worked as a regulatory affairs consultant in new food
ingredients. He obtained his PhD in Microbiology from Edinburgh University and
received additional training at the Henley Management College.
Dr Michael Lee
Managing Consultant
Michael joined CPL in 2006 and has worked
on a large number of executive placements as well as on acquisitions in the animal feed sector and
biopesticides during that time. He has had 12 years of industrial experience in a FMCG environment,
mainly in the areas of health and personal care, toiletries and household cleaning. He has held technical
roles in research and development, project management and technology transfer as well as commercial
functions in finance, procurement and marketing at Gillette and Reckitt Benckiser. In addition,
Michael’s networks and knowledge of the fragrance industry further augments CPL’s existing network
and expertise in the cosmetics industry.
Michael studied at the University of Hull, where he obtained a BSc in Chemistry and Computer Studies, and a PhD in Liquid Crystals Chemistry. He was also awarded a three year Postdoctoral appointment and worked on developing novel polymeric systems at the University of Manchester.
Dr Esther Hunter
Chief Operating Officer
Esther
has been the Company’s Chief Operating Officer since 2001 having worked
in both business development and executive search since joining CPL in 1997.
She has led and worked on ~80 business development projects for ~50 clients
in areas including food ingredients, health ingredients, biotechnology, agriculture
and fine chemicals. In executive search, she has worked successfully to place
senior people for global companies in the areas of food, OTC pharmaceuticals
and cosmetics.
Her areas of expertise include functional ingredients (prebiotics, probiotics, vitamins, rare sugars and fibres), food ingredients (hydrocolloids, sugars, sweeteners, dairy ingredients, antimicrobials, fruit preparations) animal feed additives (enzymes, acidifiers, probiotics) and biotechnology (DNA fingerprinting, enzymes from GMOs, biodegradable plastics, nematicidal genes) amongst others (polymer film technology, fine chemicals).
An experienced biochemist, Esther carried out academic and commercial research at Oxford University, Reading and Guy's Hospital in food allergy, immunology, endocrinology, cardiology, respiratory medicine, obstetrics and gynaecology and oncology. She did her PhD at Reading in medical immunodiagnostics and her BSc in Biochemistry at Glasgow.
Dr Richard Tilbury
Principal Consultant
Richard
has been in executive search since 1995, specialising in scientists, technologists
and engineers for the healthcare and associated industries. Previously he gained
extensive recruitment experience as HR manager for blue-chip companies in the
food, speciality chemicals, agribusiness and healthcare sectors. This followed
a first career as a research microbiologist in the UK and overseas, leading
to consultancy roles. His BSc in Microbiology at the University of Bristol was
followed by a PhD at the University of Aston. He is a member of the Chartered
Institute of Personnel & Development and is a former Fellow of the Institute
of Food Science & Technology.
Mr Joe Hart
Principal Consultant
Joe
joined CPL in 2005 bringing 24 years of front-line experience in the food and
food ingredients industries. He held marketing and technical positions with
Danisco, Nestlé and Unigate where his areas of focus included anti-microbials,
flavours, petfoods, fermented foods and many others. Joe has brought even more
candor and practical focus to CPL's business development projects as well as
an intimate understanding of personnel requirements to CPL's executive search
work.
Joe did post-graduate research at Reading's National Institute for Dairy Research and the University of Kent at Canterbury. His BSc in Applied Microbiology is from the University of East Anglia.
Karen Kolodziej
Research Analyst
Karen joined the CPL team in October 2008 with a recently awarded Combined Honours BSc degree in Psychology
and Forensic Science from the University of Glamorgan in Wales. She has previously worked in recruitment and has significant
experience in customer-focused job roles. The knowledge obtained both in her academic and professional work to date will be
of great help in her role as a research analyst with the CPL Executive Search team. Her ability to speak fluent Polish adds
to the specialised skills we can offer.
Karen recently returned from an independent round-the-world trip, visiting North America, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and many countries within South East Asia. Travelling is a great passion of hers and has given her a greater understanding of different cultures and traditions, as well as some unforgettable memories.
Dr Steve Lisansky
Chief Executive of CPL Scientific Ltd and Director of CPL Business Consultants
Steve
was a co-founder of CPL in 1987 and he works on consultancy projects in the
food and agriculture industries. He has been involved in ~250 projects for ~105
clients in the past 16 years, focussed mainly on business development, market
and technical issues in food ingredients and crop protection and production.
He has >220 publications as author and editor including private client reports,
multi-client studies, directories, books, journals, scientific papers, chapters,
articles and reviews plus lectures, seminars, and interviews.
He was previously CEO of a start-up company in agricultural diagnostics, founder and Director of Microbial Resources, a biotechnology company in biopesticides and before that was with Tate & Lyle Research. He did his academic work at Brandeis and Yale.
Dr Robert Harwood
Principal Consultant
Robert
joined CPL in 2002 and has significantly strengthened the Company's capabilities
in financial and market analysis. He led CPL's team of industry experts in a
multi-million dollar distressed debt due diligence. He has worked on many 'healthy'
ingredients, acquisition strategies and trans-Atlantic partnerships covering
topics such as fine chemicals, soluble fibres, bulking agents and unusually,
intra-ocular lenses.
Before that Robert spent five years in new product development and regulatory
work with Inveresk (now Charles River), a contract research laboratory. Robert
did his MBA at Edinburgh University, his PhD at the University of Southampton
and his BSc at Imperial College, University of London.
Megha Chugh
Scientific Business Analyst
Megha joined the CPL Business Consultancy Team in November 2008 after being awarded an MSc in Biomedical Sciences with distinction from the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland, and a BSc in Microbiology and Immunology from McGill University in Canada. She pursued a minor in Management while reading her BSc and has gained some understanding in the field of commerce. Her technical knowledge of microbiology enhances CPL’s knowledge in this field and her interest and enthusiasm in combining science and business contributes to her strength as a Scientific Business Analyst.
She comes from India and enjoys travelling, meeting new people and learning about new cultures. She is fluent in three South East Asian languages including Hindi, Punjabi and Tamil and is presently improving her French language skills.
Mr Graham Carson
Company Secretary and Finance Manager
Graham is Director and co-owner of Inca Financial Services, an Oxfordshire-based accountancy practice providing a range of finance functions to small businesses in the UK. Prior to founding Inca in 2002, Graham was Managing Director of ORGA Card Systems (UK) Ltd, the UK’s leading supplier of SIM cards for mobile phones and was additionally the ORGA Group’s global head of banking. He graduated with an honours degree in Electronic & Information Engineering from Queens University in Belfast. Inca has been supporting CPL since 2007.
In addition
In addition, CPL has access to the expertise of a number of well qualified and experienced professionals. Areas of expertise include pet food and animal feed, sugar esters, biological pesticides and entomology, immunology, biochemistry and marketing and market positioning.
