Richard Brook OBE, FREng

r.brook@e-synergy.com

Richard is one of the founding Directors of E-Synergy. He is a Director and previous Chairman of Q-Chip Ltd, an E-Synergy investee company in the life sciences sector spun out from Cardiff University, and of Sonic Music Services Ltd, the music technology company in Belfast, E-Synergy’s first investment from the NISPO Invest Growth Fund. He is also responsible for E-Synergy’s Carbon Trust Incubation Partnership programme and the company’s Investment Readiness Training programmes.

Prior to E-Synergy, Richard was Chief Executive of the Sira Group, an independent research and technology organisation with an international client base from many countries, including the USA and Japan. He was instrumental in leading the formation of spin out companies, successfully pioneering a number of Knowledge Transfer programmes and building research and development collaborations supported by the UK Department of Trade and Industry and the EU Framework Programmes.

He has a number of other roles including: Chairman of the British National Space Centre European Affairs Advisory Board, which deals with European space strategy, including relations with the European Commission and the European Space Agency; member of the Advisory Board of City University, London and member of its School of Engineering and Mathematics Industrial Partnership Panel; Non-executive Board Member and Chairman of the Board's Audit Committee at The National Physical Laboratory, which is managed on behalf of DBIS by Serco; and Director (trustee) of the newly formed Institute for Sustainability being established in London.

Richard is an active angel investor and experienced in delivering investment readiness training and mentoring support.