Management Team

He qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1996 and worked in practice for eight years specializing in corporate finance, mergers, acquisitions and disposals; he joined a client, GTL Resources plc, listed on the AIM in 2000 as Finance Manager and subsequently became Finance Director in 2001. In addition to the role of FD, he took on the responsibility of COO in 2002. Stephen was responsible for managing the development team for a number of petrochemical projects ranging from $100m to $450m in Australia, the US and the Middle East.

Stephen joined Supporta plc, listed on the AIM in April 2005 as CEO; which operates as a support services company to the private and public sector. Stephen led the organic and acquisition growth strategy of Supporta and completed seven acquisitions, three disposals and three corporate refinancing exercises in less than two years. He raised around $100m to fund growth of Supporta including 65% of this as new corporate debt facilities and was instrumental in the reconstruction of Supporta into three operating companies with staff levels increased from 1000 when he joined to 2800 in January 2007. The company transformed from being a loss making business into a profitable, cash generative business, with a considerable long term order book. Earnings per share, was also increased by 100% in his first year and a further 45% compound in the second year.

Stephen’s experience at CEO, CFO and COO level in public company environments coupled with his core training as a CA and his experience to the energy sector and in large international petro chemical projects gives him a wealth of broad, relevant experience which positions him extremely well in the role of our CEO.

For most of his career Martin was a senior partner with Arthur Andersen based in London, and New York. In 1985 he formed the firm’s first dedicated Corporate Finance practice, initially in London; and he went on to develop and lead that practice globally into one of the world’s largest, most successful, integrated global corporate finance and M&A transaction execution and corporate restructuring teams. As ‘Global Managing Partner, Corporate Finance and Restructuring’, he served on Arthur Andersen’s world-wide management team from 1998 to 2002 and prior to that he served on the firms North American, European and United Kingdom management teams at various times. He has a wealth of experience in leading and advising on significant corporate transactions across the corporate finance, M&A and corporate restructuring space.

Martin qualified as a Chartered Accountant and became a Fellow of the ICAEW in 1986; he retired from professional practice in 2002 and ceased to be a member of the ICAEW shortly thereafter. He is a member of the Securities Institute (UK) and has a First Class Finance Degree (BA).

Martin’s considerable expertise in corporate finance, acquisition and merger transactions and restructuring is of considerable relevance to us as a high growth development stage business.

Prior to Stephen Padgett taking over as CEO, Gary served as the Group Chief Executive. He has a BSC in Civil Engineering and has a wealth of experience as a Professional Engineer.

Gary has held senior and corporate management positions in major contracting and engineering companies including Bechtel, Dragados, Mannai Corporation, Fred Olsen, Matthew Hall and Brown & Root. He formed his own energy consulting business in 1991 (‘CECI’) with the objective of facilitating development of major oil, gas, petrochemical and resource projects throughout the world calling upon the services of carefully selected consultants and service companies.

With over 40 years of diverse experience in senior management positions, Gary has been responsible for managing multi-million dollar construction projects in the energy sector from conception through to operations. In recent years he has established international joint ventures bringing together companies to form effective business entities to undertake projects that would not have otherwise been developed.

Paul began his career in Production Management through a management course at Teesside Polytechnic, before becoming a Factory Manager by the age of Twenty five.

Working for Initial Services, part of the BAT conglomerate, he became involved in development of Greenfield sites which involved plant installations, staff recruitment, employee training, and performance development projects.

This was the catalyst for him to make a move into Human Resource Management, eventually becoming Human Resource Director in a multi-site, blue chip manufacturing and retail group employing in excess of 6000 people in the UK and overseas. The company went through several stages of growth, both organically and through acquisition, requiring organisational restructuring and change management programmes designed to meet business objectives. The company became widely recognised as a sector leader in terms of profitability and in the application of manufacturing technology.

As UK based manufacturing went into decline, Paul moved into consultancy. Based on his depth of experience he specialises in senior level recruitment, improving business performance, mergers and acquisitions, and change management. He brings a wealth of practical business experience and his strong interpersonal and management skills position him very well as the COO.

Paul’s hands-on experience in various change environments in both a commercial and plant development context and his wide practical experience across a variety of complex business situations gives him a strong background to take day to day responsibilities for implementation or oversight, as appropriate, of all the key work-streams around the plant and business development project, working with Stephen, Martin and Gary. As the project matures into a commercial business, Paul’s knowledge of the plant and the key business relationships position him well to act as the COO of the plant.

Stuart attended Houghall Agricultural College, Durham and trained in animal husbandry before joining the family agricultural business. He was responsible for dealing with livestock, crops, agricultural equipment, and engineering.

He was instrumental in expanding the company into road haulage in the UK and Europe, and holds a European CPC qualification. In 2005 he formed A.M. Commercials, specialising in sales of plant and machinery worldwide.

In 2006, Stuart was involved in setting up North East Biodiesel Ltd to manufacture biodiesel. He researched, designed, and built a rape seed extraction plant capable of producing in excess of 250 tons of virgin oil per week. In 2009, Stuart sold his shares in the company and joined Four Rivers to create a crushing and refining plant producing virgin oil as part of the strategic vertical integration of feed stocks into the Northumberland site.

Stuart is also very involved in the work of NEPIC, a body representing Bioenergy and chemical processing businesses in the North East of England.

Anthony trained as a welder fabricator at South West Durham Training College and worked for a number of years in engineering, fabrication, and installation.

He then moved into the road haulage business and qualified in logistics management, and in 2005 he was involved in setting up A.M. Commercials to sell plant and equipment worldwide.

In 2006, together with Stuart and others, he helped to set up North East Biodiesel Ltd and was heavily involved in the research, development and installation of the seed extraction plant. He left North East Biodiesel in May 2009 to join Four Rivers to set up and operate the crushing and refining plant.