Peter has a strong track record in growing successful international pharmaceutical and healthcare businesses. He is most renowned for his achievements as CEO of Clinigen Group plc, the FTSE AIM global pharmaceutical and services company, which he founded in 2010 and grew into close to a £1bn market cap company having acquired several businesses and expanded its international footprint.

Peter also serves as Chairman of Ergomed plc, the AIM-listed provider of clinical research, drug development and safety services internationally. He is also an Entrepreneur in Residence at Oxford Science Innovations.

Prior to Clinigen, he held a number of senior roles in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors including Chief Executive Officer of Penn Pharmaceutical Services. He co-created Unilabs Clinical Trials International in 1997, which was successfully sold to Icon plc in 2000.

Malcolm has over 30 years’ experience in international agribusiness through his roles within the Hillsdown Holdings / HMTF group, operating in animal breeding, poultry, feed milling and veterinary services.

During this time, Malcolm gained extensive experience in breeding and genetics, sales and strategic M&A, and held board positions within the Group. In 2000, Malcolm founded Benchmark, along with Roland Bonney and Ruth Layton, and has since led the Company’s growth and diversification. Malcolm has a degree in Zoology / Applied Zoology from the University of Wales (Bangor).

Mark is a qualified Chartered Certified Accountant with over 20 years’ experience. Mark joined Benchmark in 2010 from PKF (UK) LLP (now BDO LLP), where he was a Partner and National Chairman of the Food Sector Group.

Mark’s experience at PKF was focussed on corporate finance, including leading on M&A and the strategic development of high-growth small and mid-market businesses.

Alex has a strong track record in the animal health sector with more than 18 years’ experience in global public companies as well as start-ups. He most recently was the Director of Global R&D, AgriBusiness at Thermo Fisher Scientific, the American multinational biotechnology product development company, listed on the NYSE. In this role he drove the agribusiness innovation and growth strategy, and was focussed on the execution of the agribusiness product commercialisation pipeline across a range of R&D and manufacturing sites globally.

Prior to this, Alex led R&D divisions at biotechnology firms including Prionics AG and Cytos Proteome Therapeutics.

Alex holds a PhD in Pharmacology from the University of Zurich and an MSc from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology.

Hugo has over 35 years of experience in the animal health and pharmaceuticals industry, firstly with GlaxoSmithKline, and more recently with Merck during a period of major growth in the organisation.

Hugo held the post of Chief Commercial Officer Animal Health at Merck, having responsibility for Merck’s commercial operations worldwide. Since stepping down from that role in 2012, Hugo has acted as an independent senior advisor with several multinational companies, private equity groups and consulting firms primarily in the animal health sector. Hugo brings a wealth of international experience to the board of Benchmark, alongside his expertise in aggressively growing businesses and in the commercialisation of medicines and animal health products.

Kevin is a qualified Chartered Accountant with over 30 years’ of financial experience in international business and the biosciences industry, including with FTSE 100 companies.

Kevin has, for the past 11 years, been Chief Financial Officer at Berendsen plc, the leading FTSE 250 European textile service business. Previously, Kevin held senior finance positions within biosciences group Amersham plc and before that was a partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers (Prague). Kevin holds a BA in French from University College, Durham.

Other roles: Chief Financial Officer of Berendsen plc.

Susan has over 20 years’ experience working with entrepreneurs and academic inventors in the commercialisation of university research. Susan co-founded Imperial Innovations Group plc, now one of the world’s leading technology venture investment businesses, and was the group’s Chief Executive Officer from 2002 to 2013.

Previously, Susan held roles in sales, marketing, operations and manufacturing in various industries including chemicals, precious metals and retail. Susan holds an MA in Chemistry from Exeter College, Oxford.

Other roles: Chair of Woodford Patient Capital PLC; Chair of Mercia Technologies PLC; Senior Independent Director and Non-Executive Director of Horizon Discovery Group plc; Non-Executive Director of QinetiQ Group plc.

Yngve has more than 20 years experience in the aquaculture sector as a senior executive, adviser and investor. Yngve was chief executive of leading Norwegian salmon producer Salmar, and of international white fish supplier Aker Seafood during periods of successful growth.

He is now chairman of Chilean salmon producer Nova Austral, and sits on the boards of Mediterranean fish producer Andromeda and Norwegian aquaculture research institute Nofima. Yngve also acts as strategic adviser to investors in the aquaculture sector. Yngve has a very strong track record in Benchmark’s focus area of aquaculture, both in the Norwegian and international markets.

Athene is a qualified Solicitor with over 12 years’ experience. Athene previously worked in Slaughter and May and Travers Smith LLP’s corporate finance teams, focussing on public company advisory work, M&A, fundraisings, private investments, JVs and commercial contracts.

Since joining Benchmark, Athene has acted as Company Secretary and Group Legal Counsel, with responsibility for the Group’s global legal and IP functions. Athene holds an MA in Jurisprudence from St John’s College, Oxford.