Board of directors
GIULIO CESAREO
Chief Executive Officer
Giulio Cesareo is one of the founders of Directa Plus. He previously worked in the carbon and graphite field for Union Carbide, UCAR and Graftech, reaching the positions of the President and CEO of the Italian company and VP and General Manager of the Advanced Carbon and Graphite business unit.
Giulio Cesareo was awarded a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Milan, an MBA and an Executive MBA from Bocconi University of Milan and attended Strategic and Financial Management Programs at Stanford University (USA). He is a member of the Advisory Board of the National Graphene Association.
SIR PETER MIDDLETON
Non-Executive Chairman
Sir Peter Middleton GCB is Chairman of Burford Capital and the Resort Group. He was Chairman of Marsh Ltd, UK Chairman of Marsh & McLennan Companies and Chairman of Mercer Ltd. He was also previously Chairman of Camelot Group plc and Chairman of the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution.
Sir Peter spent nearly 30 years at HM Treasury, working closely with nine Chancellors, and was Permanent Secretary from 1983 to 1991. Sir Peter became Group Chairman of Barclays Bank plc in April 1999 and retired in August 2004. He was also President of the British Bankers Association from 2004-2006 and a member of the National Institute for Economic Research from 1996-2007.
MARCO FERRARI
Chief Financial Officer
Prior to joining Directa Plus, Marco was a financial advisor at EY, involved in several M&A transactions, with a focus on energy, renewable energy and oil & gas industries. Other experience includes Deutsche Bank, Deloitte and Dezan Shira & Associates in China. Marco holds a degree in Business Administration and Master of Science in Administration Finance and Control from Università Commerciale ‘Luigi Bocconi’. Marco Ferrari is member of the Corporate Finance Committee of the ANDAF – Italian national association of accounting and finance directors.
NEIL WARNER
Non-Executive Director
Neil Warner has strong financial and managerial experience in multi-national businesses. He is currently nonexecutive chairman of Enteq Upstream plc and is also the senior independent director and chairman of the audit committee at Trifast plc. He is also a non-executive director of Vectura Group plc. Formerly he served as Finance Director at Chloride Group plc. Prior to this, Neil held a number of senior posts in financial planning, treasury and control at Exel plc. He has also held senior positions in Balfour Beatty plc, Alcoa and PricewaterhouseCoopers and was non-executive director of Dechra Pharmaceuticals plc.
DAVID GANN
Non-Executive Director
David Gann CBE CEng FICE FCGI is a renowned expert on technological innovation and an accomplished business and academic leader. He is Imperial College London’s Vice-President (Innovation) and member of the College’s Executive Board.
He is a Chartered Civil Engineer, a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers, an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Art and Fellow, City & Guilds Institute. He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). David is a member of the London Enterprise Panel and Chairman of the Smart London Board. He advises executives and boards on innovation and technology management, including Citigroup, IBM, Huawei, McLaren and Tata Group.
RICHARD HICKINBOTHAM
Non-Executive Director
Richard Hickinbotham is an experienced City professional having served as Head of Equity Research at Cantor Fitzgerald Europe and Charles Stanley. Prior to this, he held a number of senior positions at Investec, including Global Head of Research and Co-Head of Investment Banking. He has also served as Head of Pan-European Small and Midcap Research at S.G. Warburg & Co. (acquired by UBS). Richard is currently a Non-executive Director of AB Dynamics plc. Richard holds a BSc. in Mechanical Engineering from Imperial College, and is a qualified Chartered Accountant.