News Archive
Appointment of non-executive Directors
Board significantly strengthened
Eden Research plc, a leading UK agrochemical development company, is delighted to announce today the following non-executive Directors have been appointed to the Board:
- Sir Ben Gill
- Stephen O’Brien, MP
Sir Ben Gill (57), CBE MA (Cantab), is a member of the Council of the Royal Agricultural Society of England. Having started his career as a farmer he first became involved with the National Farmers Union in the early 80s and was elected its President in 1998. During his 6 years in office he had major issues to deal with such as Foot and Mouth Disease and BSE as well as the renegotiation of CAP. He was also appointed President of the Confederation of European Agriculture from 2000 – 2004 which saw the enlargement of the EU from 15 to 25 countries; and global influence as a member of the Executive Committee of the World Body: International Federation of Agricultural Producers.
Sir Ben retired from NFU in 2004 and has since established his own business Hawkhills Consultancy Ltd which specialises in advising agrifood businesses on food and farming and also into renewable energy where he has a particular interest and expertise in the use of biomass. In 2005, Ben chaired the Government’s Biomass Task Force which produced a comprehensive set of recommendations (which have been largely adopted by the Government) to improve the uptake of biomass as a renewable energy source.
Sir Ben was knighted in December 2003 and holds the following directorships
Countrywide Farmers plc
English Apples and Pears Ltd
Hawkhills Consultancy Ltd
Hawk Creative Business Park Ltd
Emissions Trading Worldwide Ltd
W N Gill and Son (Partner)
In the past 5 years he has previously held a directorship in Westbury Dairies Ltd
Stephen O’Brien was appointed Shadow Minister for Health in December 2005 and has been the Member of Parliament for Eddisbury since the summer of 1999. Previously he has held roles as Shadow Minister for Skills, Shadow Secretary of State for Industry and Shadow Minister for the Treasury.
From 1988 to 1998, Stephen was Group Company Secretary and Director of Strategy and Corporate Affairs Redland PLC, the FTSE-100 global building materials producer (acquired by Lafarge SA in early 1998). In 1998, he established his own international business consultancy specialising in corporate strategy and mergers and acquisitions. Between 1992 and 1999 he served as a syndic (non-executive director) of the Cambridge University Careers Service.
Since April 2000, he has been Parliamentary Advisor to the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (of which he has been a member since 1988 and appointed a Fellow of the Institute in 1997). Stephen qualified as a Solicitor in 1983 and practised until 1988 at solicitors Freshfields in London.
Stephen holds directorships in the following companies:
City of London Sinfonia
Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine
Malaria Consortium
3DM Research Ltd
In the past 5 years he has previously held a directorship in the Small Business Research Trust
Commenting on these appointments, Ken Brooks, Chairman said:
“I am extremely pleased that we have secured such high-calibre appointments to strengthen Eden’s Board. Each director brings with them world class strength and depth of experience in their relevant areas and they will add strongly to the development of our business.
These appointments demonstrate our commitment to achieving global commerciality for Eden’s product portfolio to deliver value for our shareholders.”
For further information, please contact:
Tim Griffiths, Chief Executive, Eden Research plc
T: 01993 868844
Jonathon Brill/Caroline Stewart, Financial Dynamics
T: 020 7831 3113
About Eden Research plc
Eden Research plc is a UK publicly listed company on the PLUS Market, specialising in the development of agrochemical products and intellectual property through licensing and marketing agreements.
Eden is focused on developing products for the agricultural sector through the application of terpene chemistry and other patented environmentally friendly technologies. Eden is currently working alongside universities and partner companies in developing its product portfolio towards commercialisation.
For further information please visit www.edenresearch.com.