Board directors

John Weston

Chairman (non-executive)

John Weston joins Torotrak as Chairman on 1 June 2011. He began his career at BAE as an undergraduate engineering apprentice in 1970 and subsequently progressed through increasingly senior positions. During his time at BAE, he held many major roles within the company, serving as Project Director for the transformational £30 billion Al-Yamamah programme in the Middle East, Group Managing Director of BAE's defence activities, and ultimately as Group Chief Executive. John left BAE Systems in 2002 and since then he has been working with private equity backers, holding board positions at a variety of companies. These currently include AWS Group Holdings Limited, Brittpac Limited, MB Aerospace Holdings Limited, Acra Controls Limited and most recently Lo-Q plc.

Dick Elsy

Chief Executive

Dick Elsy joined Torotrak as Chief Executive in January 2003. Following the company's restructuring in early 2011, Dick leads all engineering activities, in addition to his role as CEO. Prior to joining Torotrak he was Product Development Director at Jaguar Cars Limited during the time it was part of Ford’s Premier Automotive Group. He previously spent 16 years at BMW AG and Land Rover where he held various senior engineering and operating committee positions. He is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. He is also a Director and Trustee of Engineering UK.

Jeremy Deering

Financial and Commercial Director

In addition to his roles of Financial Director and Company Secretary, Jeremy Deering leads Torotrak's commercial and marketing activities.  He was appointed a Director in December 2006. He has held senior finance and commercial positions in FTSE 100 groups including Tomkins plc and the United Utilities Group where he became Group Financial Controller and later Finance Director of its then major energy division, Norweb plc, following its take-over. He was acting Managing Director of Your Communications through its intended IPO.  He subsequently worked with companies in the small to mid-size sectors involving turnaround or re-financing including, in an interim director capacity, System C Healthcare plc through its successful AIM flotation in 2005.

Nick Barter

Non-executive Director, Chairman of the Remuneration Committee and the Senior Independent Non-executive Director

Nick Barter was appointed a director of Torotrak in November 2003. Prior to this, he was Director of Product Development for Jaguar and Land Rover, during the time it was part of Ford’s Premier Automotive Group. He was responsible for all aspects of planning, design, development, sign-off and introduction of all Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles, leading a team of around 5,000 engineers, designers and analysts.  He serves on the Technology Strategy Board’s Steering Group for the Low Carbon Vehicle Innovation Platform and is a Trustee Director of RoadSafe and of The British Motor Industry Heritage Trust.  He has recently become a director of technology company Ultramo Engines.