Leadership

Appointment date

1 March 2020 

Nationality

British 

Skills and experience  

Warren joined the Board as an independent Non-Executive Director in March 2020 and became Chair of the Board in June 2020. He was a member of the Vodafone Group Executive Committee for ten years, serving principally as Group Strategy and Business Development Director. Previously, he was a Managing Director of UBS Investment Bank, where he held several senior positions, most recently as Head of the Technology Team in Europe. Warren has served on the boards of UBM plc and Avast plc as Senior Independent Director and as a Non-Executive Director of Inmarsat plc. He has an MA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University and a master’s degree in Business Administration from London Business School. 

Key strengths  

Global business development; plc board experience; active knowledge of governance and regulatory matters; strategy development; capital markets; and mergers and acquisitions. 

Appointment date

17 June 2021 

Nationality

British

Skills and experience 

Julia joined the Board as an independent Non-Executive Director in June 2021. Julia is an engineer with extensive experience across industry, academia and government and a focus on climate change and the low-carbon economy. She has held senior roles at Rolls-Royce plc, the University of Cambridge and Imperial College and as Vice Chancellor and Chief Executive of Aston University. She is currently Chair of The Carbon Trust and Frontier IP plc, a Non-Executive Director of Ørsted, and Senior Adviser to Holtec UK. Julia is Chair of the Adaptation Committee of the Climate Change Committee and was a member of the BEIS Hydrogen Advisory Council. Julia is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Royal Society of London and the Academy of Medical Sciences, and was awarded a DBE for services to higher education and technology. She sits in the House of Lords as the Baroness Brown of Cambridge and is a member of the Intelligence and Security Committee. 

Key strengths 

Industry knowledge; academic knowledge; and climate change expertise.

Appointment date

2 September 2013 

Nationality

British

Skills and experience 

Phil was appointed Chief Executive of Ceres in 2013. Under his leadership Ceres has grown into one of the UK’s most valuable clean technology companies.

Phil has been instrumental in positioning Ceres as an asset-light licensing business; establishing partnerships with global engineering giants to meet the urgency for low-carbon power systems and electrolysis for green hydrogen. Phil has worked in the fuel cell industry for 18 years, formerly at Intelligent Energy and ICI. He has a master’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Imperial College, an MBA from IESE Barcelona and is a Sainsbury Management Fellow and a Fellow of IChemE.

Key strengths 

Experienced plc CEO with over ten years in the public market. Commercialisation of fuel cell and electrolysis technology across multiple markets and geographies; strategic delivery; and team building and leadership.

Appointment date

1 October 2024 

Nationality 

British

Skills and experience

Stuart was appointed Chief Financial Officer of Ceres in October 2024. Prior to his appointment at Ceres, he was most recently CFO and Board Director of advanced therapies innovator Oxford Biomedica plc where, in his seven-year tenure, the business grew its revenue more than five-fold and completed transactions to successfully internationalise the business. Stuart also spent eight years at FTSE 100-listed Shire Plc in various finance and strategic roles. Stuart is a Chartered Accountant and has a degree in Physics from Imperial College. 

Key strengths 

Extensive financial and commercial experience across a range of advanced technology sectors. Strong capital markets; UK governance; and transformation delivery track record.

Appointment date

15 March 2022

Nationality 

Danish

Skills and experience 

Trine joined the Board in March 2022 and is the Employee Engagement Director. She is the Senior Vice President of Europe Renewables in Equinor with profit and loss accountability for origination, development, construction and operation of offshore wind assets. Previously, Trine was Chief Operating Officer of Copenhagen Offshore Partners, a leading provider of project development and construction management services to offshore wind projects worldwide. Prior to that, Trine held senior management posts at Ørsted and also served on a number of boards and key committees within the company. She is currently a Non-Executive Director of MacArtney A/S Denmark, BeGreen A/S, Danske Commodities A/S and DI Danish Energy Industries. Trine has an M.Sc in Engineering from the Technical University of Denmark and a Board Certificate from Copenhagen Business School. 

Key strengths 

Renewables market knowledge; technical expertise; and stakeholder relationship building.

Appointment date

1 June 2023 

Nationality

American

Skills and experience 

Karen joined the Board on 1 June 2023. She has 37 years of experience in the engineering industry, most recently at Smiths Group where she was latterly President of Smiths Interconnect until 2020. Previously, Karen spent her career in various technical and managerial roles at Northrop, Hitco Carbon Composites (SGL), Zoltek Companies and Safran Group SA, where she was CEO of Messier-Bugatti USA, Chair and Chief Executive of Labinal (now Safran Electrical and Power) and President and CEO of Morpho Detection. She is currently a Non-Executive Director of Ultra Electronics UK Holdings Ltd and of Wärtsilä Oyj Abp. Karen has a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, USA, and a Certificate of Financing and Deploying Clean Energy at the Yale School of Business and the Environment. 

Key strengths 

Technology; global industry; transformation; strategic development; and plc board experience.

Appointment date

1 June 2023 

Nationality

British and Irish

Skills and experience 

Caroline joined the Board on 1 June 2023 and has over 20 years’ main board experience as a non-executive director. She is currently Chair of Audit and Risk at FTSE 250-listed IP Group plc, a Non-Executive Director of CAB Payment Holdings plc and FTSE small-cap Luceco plc, and a member of the global partnership council of Clifford Chance LLP. Caroline has delivered business strategy across EMEA, the Americas, India and the Far East in commercial leadership roles for FTSE 100 groups, mid-cap companies and innovative small and medium-sized enterprises. Her early career was in corporate finance with BAML (New York), UBS and HSBC advising global corporations and governments. Caroline has a First in Natural Sciences and a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Cambridge and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. 

Key strengths 

Strategy development; commercial experience; finance and risk; and plc board experience.

Appointment date

1 April 2021 

Nationality

British

Skills and experience 

Tudor joined the Board in April 2021. He is one of the founding members of ARM Holdings plc, where until 2012 he was on the board of directors and President of ARM Holdings plc. Tudor is a seasoned independent Non-Executive Director, with considerable experience in director remuneration matters, and a current Non-Executive Director of Marvell Semiconductor listed on Nasdaq. He previously held long tenures as a Non-Executive Director of several major international companies, the most recent being the Hong Kong-listed Lenovo Group. Tudor received an MA degree in Electrical Sciences from the University of Cambridge. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology and a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. He was awarded an MBE in 2013. 

Key strengths 

Technology; global industry; and licensing.

Appointment date

27 September 2023 

Nationality 

Chinese

Skills and experience

Nannan joined Ceres in September 2023 and is the Weichai-nominated Non-Executive Director as part of the strategic collaboration agreement with Weichai. Nannan is a senior engineer with a doctorate in Engineering from Shandong University and is currently the Assistant President of Weichai Power and President of the Future Technology Institute of Weichai Power. Nannan is responsible for product and technology research and development having joined Weichai Power in July 2015, and has served as the Vice President of the Scientific Research Institute, the President of the Science and Technology Research Institute, and the Vice President of the Future Technology Research Institute. 

Key strengths 

Relationship with Weichai; Chinese market knowledge; and technology.

Filip joined Ceres in September 2024. He is a seasoned Executive with over 20 years of global leadership experience in cleantech and chemical industries, specialising in strategic growth, business transformation and market leadership.

As Chief Commercial Officer, he leads the Company’s commercial strategy, licensing partnerships and market expansion in solid oxide fuel cell and electrolysis technologies. 

Before joining Ceres, Filip was Senior Vice President at Nel Hydrogen, where he led the electrolyser division, overseeing product development, sales and operations. 

Caroline joined Ceres in 2021 as Chief Technology Officer following three years as a Non-Executive Director of Ceres. She started her career as a lecturer in Engineering at Cambridge, followed by various roles in McLaren F1, mainly focused on the development of digitalisation and the first F1 simulator. She was previously CTO of Babylon Health, and worked in a range of sectors from motorsport to health, elite sports, manufacturing and energy.

Caroline is also a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, was Visiting Professor at Oxford from 2015 to 2018 and holds a PhD in Applied Mechanics. In 2020, she received a CBE for services to engineering. 

Nick joined Ceres in 2016, during which time he has been a driving force in the acceleration of Ceres’ ambitions to be a world leader in solid oxide technology. Nick has worked across a number of technology disciplines including engineering, digitalisation, modelling and AI. 

As a member of Ceres’ Executive Committee, Nick leads our talented product organisation to deliver best-in-class products for our existing and future partners. 

He is a Chartered Engineer and a member of IMechE and has an MEng degree in Engineering Science from Oxford University.

Steve has been with Ceres since 2007, initially joining the company as a Manufacturing Engineer. Over the past 18 years, he has held a number of senior leadership positions, serving as Operations Director from 2018 until his appointment as Chief Operating Officer in July 2025.

Steve has overseen a broad portfolio of responsibilities including Manufacturing Operations, Manufacturing Engineering, Technology Transfer to license partners, as well as Quality, Facilities, and Health & Safety.

Steve holds a degree in Manufacturing Engineering from Cardiff University and brings a wealth of experience and strategic insight to the continuous evolution of Ceres' operational capabilities.

Michelle joined Ceres in 2019 and is responsible for all aspects of the people strategy to support the ongoing growth of the business. With over 20 years’ experience gained across technology, manufacturing and professional services, her skillset encompasses all aspects of HR and expands beyond this into wider business operations. 

Prior to Ceres, she was Chief Operating Officer for ASB Law, having initially joined as Head of Human Resources and Development. Michelle is a chartered member of the CIPD and holds a master’s degree in Personnel Management.