Adrian Higson is NNFCC's Managing Director. He is also NNFCC’s Lead Consultant for Biobased products. He is a chartered
chemist with over 20 years’ research and consulting experience within the
chemical and biobased products industry.
Adrian
maintains a wide client base, providing consulting and facilitation services
for both the public and private sector. Private sector clients include SME
technology developers, multi-national FMCG companies and business investors.
Adrian
is a goal focused APM qualified project manager with experience of coordinating
large multi-site and multi-stakeholder projects. He has an excellent track
record of delivering complex projects to high quality, on budget and within
deadlines.
Whether
a market analysis, sustainability appraisal or a business options study, Adrian
takes a ‘solutions based’ approach to each study; working with the client to
ensure the right questions are asked, ensuring project outputs are aligned with
client expectations and desired outcomes.
Adrian
holds a PhD from the University of Liverpool and has held research positions at
the University of Colorado (USA) and University of Dundee (UK). Prior to
joining NNFCC he was a project manager at SAFC Pharma (Sigma Aldrich)
supervising the GMP manufacture of active pharmaceutical ingredients.
Adrian’s
experience has contributed to several public working groups, including
- UK Bioeconomy Business Environment Working Group
- European Commission Expert Group for Bio-Based Products
- Scottish Industrial Biotechnology Development Group
- Bioeconomy advisor to Innovation Norway.
Ongoing and recent projects
Consultancy
- Market Analysis to support business plan development. Recent studies have covered Lactic Acid, Cysteine, Pentose sugars, Polylactic acid, Terpenes, Alpha olefins, Itaconic acid.
- Business Options Analysis to support novel food packaging developments covering end-of-life scenarios.
- Horizon Scanning including the potential for Forest-Based Industrial Biotechnology in Scotland and Biorefining in the Tees Valley, North East England.
Research Programme Facilitation
- Industrial Biotechnology Catalyst Coordinator: The IB Catalyst supports research and development into the processing and production of materials, chemicals (including pharmaceutical precursors and biopharmaceuticals) and bioenergy.
- Integrated Biorefining Research and Technology Club Facilitator: The club supported the development of biological, chemical and engineering processes to produce chemicals, materials and polymers to replace petro-chemical derived sources.
Collaborative Innovation Projects
- SuperBio (Support and Partnership for the development of multiple sustainable and market ready value chains in the biobased economy). An H2020 funded project to develop new cross-sectoral industrial value chains across the EU, building upon the innovation potential of SMEs.
- BioBase4SME: A network, representing many leading biobased economy experts, advising SMEs from across North-West Europe on how to develop novel ideas into marketable products. The project is helping start-ups and SME to overcome technological and non-technological barriers to innovation.