A British CleanTech scale-up at the forefront of the global expansion to offshore wind has bolstered its board with two business heavyweights.
Non-executive director, David Pinches and fractional CFO, Craig Lilford, have joined the board of King’s Award for Enterprise winner, Kinewell.
Kinewell develops and commercialises innovative technologies that add significant scalable value and impact positively on social and environmental challenges.
The company is a market leader in developing lifetime cost optimisation solutions for low carbon technologies using advanced mathematics and artificial intelligence techniques.
Pinches, a computer science and mathematics graduate from Leeds University, brings a wealth of experience working in the business-to-business software industry.
Throughout his 44-year career, the executive has held high profile technology-related roles including head of software at Sage, commercial director at Scott Logic and non-executive chair of Salesfire.
Pinches was introduced to the business by Mercia following a £750,000 investment from the North East Accelerate Fund earlier this year, which is managed by Mercia Ventures.
The fund was established by The North East Fund with the support of The North East Mayoral Strategic Authority, led by Mayor Kim McGuinness.
He said: “Kinewell is a fantastic success story for UK plc, creating high skilled jobs and exporting its software solutions to customers across the globe, but more importantly, the company is also playing a pivotal role in tackling one of our planet’s greatest challenges, energy security and the climate crisis.
“I am thrilled to be joining the business as non-executive director at such an exciting time in its journey and look forward to contributing to the next stage of the company’s growth while supporting the global transition to a net-zero society.”
Craig Lilford is an experienced board advisor and commercial leader who has held senior finance and leadership roles within FTSE-listed organisations including Sage Group and RBS Group, where he led multi-million-pound strategic initiatives, commercial growth programmes and complex restructurings.
He currently serves as a fractional CFO and board member to a number of high-growth and venture-backed businesses, providing strategic financial leadership, fundraising support, commercial planning and investor relations.
Throughout his career, he has worked closely with founders, boards and investors to improve financial performance, strengthen governance and deliver sustainable growth.
He said: “What really drew me to Kinewell was the chance to be part of a business tackling some of the offshore wind sector’s biggest challenges. The team is doing genuinely important work to help offshore wind institutions reduce costs, improve performance and accelerate deployment, and that really resonated with me.
“Having spent much of my career helping businesses grow and create long-term value, I was also struck by the strength of the technology and the ambition of the people behind it. Joining the board at this point in Kinewell’s journey feels like a hugely exciting opportunity.”
The board appointments follow a successful first half of the year for Kinewell in which the company raised £750,000, completed the acquisition of ForeCoast® Marine, a leading marine weather risk software and was awarded the King’s Award for Enterprise for International Trade by His Majesty King Charles III.
Dr Andrew Jenkins, founder and chief executive of Kinewell, said: “We are delighted to welcome Craig and David to the Kinewell board.
“Their extensive knowledge and experience of technology, finance and marketing, as well as working with scaling businesses, will significantly enhance both the software solutions and support we provide to our clients and the long-term development of our business as we continue to innovate and grow.”