Ambassadors

Brian Fleet MBE, Senior Vice President, Head of Centre of Excellence Wing, Airbus UK

Brian Fleet, SVP Head of Centre of Excellence Wing is based at Airbus UK's Broughton, North Wales site - the focus of wing production for all variants of Airbus commercial airliners - but additionally he has overall responsibility for Wing Centre of Excellence operations across Airbus UK's two sites - at Broughton and at Filton near Bristol.

Brian became an Airbus SVP in December 1999, later taking up his present position. Prior to this, Brian spent over 20 years at Broughton after joining as an engineering apprentice in 1974. The site was then part of British Aerospace, later BAE SYSTEMS, until the creation of the Airbus single integrated company in 2001.

Brian career has seen him taking increasingly senior roles within the business and in 1995 he moved from BAe Airbus division management team to take up a key role in another part of British Aerospace, becoming Director of the Royal Ordnance small arms ammunition business, based at Radway Green in Crewe, Cheshire. In addition in 1998 he was also appointed Managing Director of Heckler and Koch in Germany.

Brian subsequently returned to Airbus, Broughton and his commercial aerospace routes and was awarded the MBE for his services to Commercial Aerospace and a Gold Alumni Award for Further Education from the AoC in 2003.

Brian is chairman of the North Wales Aerospace Group and a governor of Wirral Grammar School for Boys.

Brian Fleet was born in 1956 in Bebington on the Wirral and attended Wirral Grammar School. He is married to Debbie and they have three grown up children, Kelly, Mark and Paul.

John Bath, CEO, Brecon Pharmaceuticals

John Bath is an Oxford University physics graduate who has worked in packaging-related industries throughout his career, with the last 22 years devoted exclusively to healthcare packaging and associated services.

Since 1984 John has held senior management positions in the USA and Europe as managing director, Rexam Medical Packaging, regional director, West Pharmaceuticals, and European president, PCI. John was appointed chief executive of Brecon Pharmaceuticals in 2001 and is now President and Managing Director following the company’s acquisition in 2006 by AmerisourceBergen Corporation. Brecon Pharmaceuticals was awarded Ambassador status in the WDA’s Commitment to Innovation programme.

John was winner of “The Leading Wales Awards 2005” for businesses with more than 250 employees and is a member of the Wales Management Council. He is Vice Chairman of the Healthcare Compliance Packaging Council of Europe and serves on the advisory boards of two recruitment consultancies.

Roger Evans, Plant Director, INA Bearing Co.

Roger is Plant Director of INA Bearing Co, a manufacturer of high-precision engine components for the automotive industry, based in Llanelli, South Wales. He has spent 27 years in the automotive sector. There, Roger's career has progressed through different roles in various functional areas over 26 years. He is a Director of Welsh Automotive Forum and Director of the Wales Management Council. He is member of Advisory Board for the Engineering Employees Federation and a Member of Manufacturing Task and Finish Group.