Adrian Whitfield

Weener was a portfolio company of 3i Private Equity. I was approached to take over from the prior CEO as the company was not performing as expected particularly in terms of organic growth. During my tenure of 5 years the business grew EBITDA organically on a compound basis of circa 10% per year despite COVID, the war in Ukraine and the energy crisis. In parallel we achieved EcoVadis Platinum level. These achievements were driven by dramatic improvement in a number of areas including operational and commercial excellence and extremely strong New Product development. All of which was delivered by a top quality team of people throughout the company. The company was very successfully sold to Silgan Holdings in October 2024

Wilmcote Holdings was a SPAC created by myself in parallel with Marwyn Value Investors with a focus on acquiring globally based speciality chemical companies. After 2 unsuccessful acquisition processes we decided to dis-continue our activites.

FTSE250 global manufacturer of specialty polymers for the coatings, construction, textiles, paper and healthcare markets. Turnover £1.2B. During my tenure I changed Synthomer (previously Yule Catto) from an unfocused conglomerate to one of the leading aqueous polymer producers in the world and in so doing increased the market cap from pre-financial crisis lows by approximately 15x. As part of this transformation we acquired one of our major competitors and transformed the product portfolio of the Group. I stepped down to pursue a more entrepreneurial role

D S Smith is an innovative manufacturer of a broad range of paper and specialist packaging products. Current turnover approximately £4 Bn Hired to create the Plastics Division from scratch. Built a £200m turnover business through M&A and organic growth. Bought 6 companies on 3 continents in 3 years. .

Global manufacturer of material handling systems for the Beverage and Electronics markets. Acquired by private equity in 1997.

Global partnership specialising in management consulting, technology and innovation.

International consultancy specialising in the textile, retail, consumer goods and health care sectors.

Iconic British chemical company led at that time by Sir John Harvey-Jones.