Board of Directors

• 

  Anthony Best,
  Non-Executive Chairman

  Tony was called up for National Service in 1955 obtaining a commission in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. In 1957, he went to Cambridge University and graduated in Mechanical Sciences Tripos (Engineering). He joined Rolls-Royce Cars in 1960, initially as a graduate apprentice and then into the design department working on vehicle suspensions. In 1963, he moved to Avon Rubber Limited, initially as a Project Engineer working on the design and development of tyre manufacturing equipment, followed by a move into production management at the tyre plant in Melksham before becoming Production Manager in 1965.
  

  In 1967, he joined Dr Alex Moulton at Moulton Developments as Chief Engineer working on vehicle suspensions for cars, trucks and coaches. Following the closure of Moulton Developments in 1982, he founded Anthony Best Dynamics Limited.
  
  Tony has written a number of technical papers on vehicle suspension, ride and handling. He was awarded the Institution of Mechanical Engineers' Thomas Hawksley medal and the Automobile Division's Crompton Lanchester Medal in 1979. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and is on the Court of the Worshipful Company of Engineers.

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  James Routh,
  Chief Executive Officer

  James started his career in engineering as an apprentice before studying Mechanical Engineering at university. He subsequently gained a PhD from Cranfield University in 1999 in the field of fracture mechanics in non-linear materials. James then entered the aerospace and defence industry with roles at Cranfield Aerospace, Flight Refuelling (now Cobham PLC), GKN Aerospace in Australia and Chemring Group where he was Engineering & Technology Director. More recently, he joined Diploma PLC where he initially led business and corporate development delivering several UK and international acquisitions, before moving into a Group Managing Director role.

  James is a Chartered Engineer and is a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.

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  Matthew Hubbard,
  Chief Operating Officer

  Mat studied at Cambridge University gaining a Master of Engineering in Electrical and Information Sciences Tripos (EIST) with particular interests in embedded computing, networking and motor design. Mat joined Anthony Best Dynamics Ltd in 1999, initially as a Project Engineer and more recently as Operations Director.
  

  Mat has played a leading role in the development and marketing of new technologies whilst at ABD, in particular in developing the Company's proprietary driverless vehicle testing system. He has also become increasingly involved in managing the group's operations and in its IT and recruitment strategies. Mat has been a director of Anthony Best Dynamics Limited, the wholly owned operating subsidiary of the Company, since 4 March 2008.

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Non-executive directors

• Graham Eves

  Graham joined GKN plc in 1967 where he spent 13 years operating across multiple overseas jurisdictions including, for the last 5 years, setting up and running a special operation for GKN plc's head office in Switzerland. He returned to the UK in 1980 to work in venture capital and establish his own international business consultancy. His main activities covered advising a range of German, North American and Japanese automotive component/technology suppliers and he co-founded and was chairman of an automotive technology company, Mechadyne (now part of KolbenschmidtPierburg AG). He was also chairman of PCB manufacturer, Lyncolec Limited, chairman of a special security company and a director of 3PC Investment Trust.
  
  Graham was directly involved in the AIM flotations of Antonov plc and Transense Technologies plc and has a Master of Arts degree in Modern and Medieval Languages from the University of Cambridge.

• Bryan Smart

  Bryan Smart is a Chartered Accountant with over 40 years' experience in finance both in professional and commercial roles at various organisations including Deloitte and Mercedes-Benz UK where he served as Chief Financial Officer.
  

  Since leaving Mercedes-Benz, he has held director roles in a number of private and public companies including being Chairman of the supervisory board of CarboTech AG, a Salzburg based manufacturer of complex carbon fibre structures for the automotive industry.

  He currently holds Non-Executive roles at Greka Drilling Limited and G3E plc, which are companies focused on providing exploration, development and drilling services in China and India. Bryan has served on the Board of Brunel University, and is currently a trustee of the Mercedes-Benz UK pension fund.

• Richard Hickinbotham

  Richard holds a BSc. in Mechanical Engineering from Imperial College and is a Chartered Accountant with over 30 year's City experience. Most recently he was Head of European Research at Cantor Fitzgerald Europe, prior to which he was Head of Research at Charles Stanley Securities and in 2013 was part of the advisory team that took the Company on to AIM. He has held a number of senior positions at Investec and S G Warburg & Co. (acquired by UBS).