Life At Cherwell

Andy has been Managing Director at Cherwell since 2005. He originally joined the business in 1990 as a service engineer then transferred into sales, eventually joining the board as Sales Director in 1994. Since being appointed MD he has overseen significant growth in the business.

Andy is a Cranfield School of Management Business Growth Programme alumnus and is second generation in the family business.

Steven joined Cherwell in 2016 and is now the Director of Quality and Technology. He oversees the quality assurance and quality control of products manufactured, alongside driving forward continuous improvements and supporting product developments to meet customer needs.

Steven’s career started in an onsite QC testing laboratory for a food production company. He started in microbiology, leading to managing independent testing laboratories, working alongside major food and water industries in ensuring quality of product from manufacture through to quality control. Later moving into a career within Public Health England for 16 years.

He holds a master’s degree in biomedical science, is a practitioner with the Chartered Quality Institute and is a member of Institute of Directors.

Emma Millburn has been part of the Cherwell team since November 2020. Initially joining as the Director of Sales, she has brought extensive sales experience that spans over 20 years. Having worked for large multinationals to SME corporations. Emma has a proven track record in sales and leading sales teams, that has led to her holding several strategic positions within her career.

More recently Emma's taken on the roles of Director of Sales and Marketing, coordinating the go to market strategy for the business. The role is pivotal in creating and executing plans that align with the company's objectives, ensuring a cohesive and effective approach to the market.

Emma thrives in a high pressured, fast paced environment and holds the responsibility for the strategic sales and marketing approach. Emma is passionate about creating high performing teams and processes, while driving ambitious growth, within the Domestic, European, and international markets.

Stuart joined Cherwell Laboratories to head up the Finance team in May 2021. Stuart brings experience from a wide range of industries including construction, petrochemical, hotel and property management. Stuart is qualified as a Chartered Accountant (ACCA).

With strong analytical skills, Stuart ensures we keep on the right track while the company progresses through this exciting growth phase.

Andy joined Cherwell in 2024 and brings over 17 years comprehensive experience in leadership and manufacturing operations.

He has a proven track record in implementing lean principles across diverse manufacturing environments with a deep commitment to optimizing processes, reducing waste and enhancing efficiency.

He has led transformative initiatives that resulted in significant reductions in cycle times and Improved quality and his industry experience spans aerospace to life science.

Wayne began his working life as a machine operator, working his way up the ranks to become a Production Shift Manager, and finally ending up as Despatch Shift Manager.

He started working for Cherwell in October 1995 as a despatch/production assistant. Later to become Warehouse Manager in February 2000, whilst overseeing the move from 3 units around Bicester to the current facilities today.

In his current role, he is responsible for all areas within the current warehouse, including production/goods in and despatch. He is instrumental in the warehouse team keeping up with the continued growth and future aspirations of the business.

Jonathan has been heading up the Engineering department at Cherwell since April 2019. Jonathan studied Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering at Portsmouth University before completing 15 years in the newspaper printing industry. He then worked for 8 years in various roles in the fast-moving consumable goods industry.

His previous roles have focused on engineering, quality and production management. His skills in these areas will identifying key opportunities to further enhance manufacturing processes and engineering systems here at Cherwell.

Jo joined Cherwell in 2018 with over 20 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry.

In addition to her ERP system implementation experience, Jo’s Supply Chain background includes; Customer Service, Demand Planning, Product Life-Cycle Management, Inventory Management and Process Improvement – her experience in these areas supports our commitment to developing our systems and processes and strengthens our focus on continuous improvement.

Leonid joined Cherwell as Production Manager in September 2023.  The production experience that he has developed across a variety of industries, including food, automotive and medical devices makes him a valuable member of the Cherwell Team.

He will use his previous experience as a member of the production management team at GN Resound to drive the production department forward and support future growth of Cherwell.

Clare joined Cherwell as our Human Resources Manager in April 2023. She has a BSc in Management Sciences from Loughborough University and has worked in HR since graduating.

Having developed her HR career across a range of organisations and industries, she brings a pragmatic and practical approach to Cherwell. Clare aims to support both colleagues and the business, as Cherwell continues to grow, as well as developing the HR Function to underpin the evolving business.

Thomas joined the sales team at Cherwell in October 2019.  He studied Molecular Biology at the University of Dundee in Scotland, before moving to Biocatalysts, an enzyme manufacturer, based in Cardiff.   During his five years with Biocatalysts, Thomas progressed to the role of Business Manager for Northern Europe territory.

Tom brings valuable additional experience of technical sales and project management to our team. This combined with his energy and enthusiasm in microbiology will help us to continue to deliver added value to our customers.

Eleanor joined Cherwell as Business Development Manager for the North in June 2022.

She has a number of years laboratory microbiology experience, transitioning from technician to quality and site management roles, predominantly in the food and water industries, evolving to business development within the life science industry.

Her previous microbiology and business development experience makes Eleanor a valuable asset to the team and will help Cherwell deepen customer relationships to meet customer's specific requirements.