Leadership

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 served as chairman of Ergomed plc, the AIM-listed provider of clinical research, drug development and safety services internationally, and was non-executive director of DRI Healthcare  und.
Prior to Clinigen, he held a number of senior roles in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors including chief executive officer and leading the MBO of Penn Pharmaceutical Services. He co-created Unilabs Clinical Trials International in 1997, which was successfully sold to Icon plc in 2000.

Other roles:  Peter is chairman of Oxford Quantum Circuits, non-executive director of Osler Diagnostics and a Health Sciences adviser at Oxford Science Enterprises and Gresham House. In addition, Peter has an investment fund, Enigma Holdings Group, and serves on a number of the boards of companies owned by the group. He also owns XPG Ltd, a building and development company.

Trond Williksen is highly experienced in the international aquaculture and seafood industries, having held senior executive positions in the sector for over 20 years. Most recently he was CEO of SalMar ASA, the Norwegian fish farm company and one of the world’s largest producers of farmed salmon. Prior to this, he was CEO of AKVA group ASA, the leading global aquaculture technology and service provider for six years. He previously held a number of senior roles in Aker ASA’s Seafoods, Ocean Harvest and BioMarine divisions.

Other roles:Trond is the Chairman at Ivan Ulsund Rederi AS (including its subsidiaries Trønderbas AS and  Brusøykjær AS), an ocean fisheries company.

He is a board member at SinkabergHansen AS, a leading Norwegian salmon farming company, and a board member of Williksen Export AS, a Norwegian salmon export company. Trond also owns his own  investment company, KRING AS.   At the time of Trond’s appointment, the Board reviewed Trond’s other roles and were comfortable that these would still allow sufficient time to discharge his responsibilities effectively. The Board agreed that each role was not deemed to be significant and will continue to monitor such appointments.

Septima joined Benchmark from Dechra Pharmaceuticals PLC, the international provider of specialist veterinary pharmaceuticals and products, where she spent four years as group financial controller, acting group finance director and most recently corporate development director, overseeing all aspects of acquisition activities, strategic projects, business development and investment initiatives playing a significant role in supporting Dechra during a period of high growth.
Prior to Dechra, Septima held a number of senior finance roles at Ardagh Group S.A. (previously Impress Metal Packaging) over a period of nine years. She has also held finance roles at UPC, CNH Capital and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Septima holds a Masters in European Union Law from the University of Leicester and is ACCA qualified.

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. In both these roles Yngve was involved in evaluation of operational risk management strategies. Yngve also acts as strategic adviser to investors in the aquaculture section. Yngve has a very strong track record in Benchmark’s focus area of aquaculture, both in the Norwegian and international markets.

Other roles: Yngve is a member of the board Aqua Site AS; Træna Sjmat AS and other seafood related companies. He is also chairman of Broodstock Capital, Kime Akva.  Yngve also acts as a strategic adviser to investors in the aquaculture sector.

Kristian has more than 15 years’ experience as an investment professional with a particular focus on the aquaculture, pharmaceuticals, energy and renewables sectors. Kristian is currently an investment professional and co-head of Ferd Capital, a division of Ferd AS, a Norwegian investment company holding shares in the Company.  Kristian acts as shareholder representative of FERD AS, a significant shareholder of the Company, and therefore the Board has concluded that he is not an independent director.  Prior to that, he was a partner at Herkules Capital, a leading private equity firm in Norway. Before this, he was a research analyst at First Securities, an investment banking firm. Kristian has held various board positions and is currently a board director of a number of companies including Fjord Line AS and Aibel AS.

Other roles:  Kristian has held various board positions and is currently a Board Director of a number of companies including Fjord Line AS and Aibel ASA.

Jonathan is the Founder and Managing Partner of JNE Partners LLP a London based investment firm, a significant shareholder in the Company. Jonathan acts as shareholder representative of JNE Partners LLP, and the Board has concluded that he is not an independent director of the Company.

Jonathan brings to Benchmark over two decades of experience in the investment business across private and public equity and credit. Prior to JNE Partners, Jonathan was a Partner of MSD Capital, Michael Dell’s family office and President of MSD Partners Europe.  Before founding the London office for MSD, Jonathan was a Vice President at Lone Star funds and started his career at Deutsche Bank in their Investment Banking division. Jonathan received his BA Hons degree from Manchester University in European Studies and Modern Languages.

Torgeir Svae is an Investment Director at Kverva AS responsible for the seafood portfolio.  Torgeir brings to Benchmark 20 years of investment banking, asset management and management experience.  He will act as shareholder representative of Kverva, a significant shareholder of the Company, and therefore the Board has concluded that he is not an independent director.

Torgeir is also a director of Østermoen Industrier AS, Østermoen Invest AS, Insula AS, Viden AS and Chair of Scale Aquaculture AS.  

Since 2015, Marie Danielsson has been the CFO of BEWi ASA, a leading provider of packaging, component and insulation solutions that is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange.

Before this role, Marie worked for Haldex, a global supplier of brake components to commercial vehicles as Vice President Financial Control and Taxes, and as an auditor at KPMG.

Marie holds a degree in M.Sc. Economics from Stockholm University, Sweden. One of her key contributions to the Board is her financial and industrial experience in international and public environments and complex and growing organizations.

Marie is also a director of BEWI Invest AS, the parent company of BEWi ASA. Marie has no beneficial interest in the equity securities of Benchmark Holdings plc.

Jennifer is a French qualified Solicitor with over 10 years’ experience. Jennifer previously worked in French law firm SCP de Poulpiquet & Co and more recently as an in-house legal counsel for KellyDeli, a European sushi retail company where she gained experience in the salmon industry, focusing on commercial agreements, corporate and competition law.

Since joining Benchmark, Jennifer has been advising and supporting Group companies to execute their strategies. Jennifer holds a MA in Law from the university of Nice and “Diplome de Notaire”.

Geir Olav joined Benchmark in January 2019 following his CEO role at Bergen Aquarium.   Prior to this role Geir Olav has a broad experience within aquaculture, formerly the CEO of Fishguard and National Sales Director & Global KAM of MSD Animal Health.

Geir Olav is a qualified Fish Health Biologist and holds a doctorate in Scientific Fish Health from the University of Bergen.  He lives in Bergen with his wife and three children, but spent most of his childhood in Austevoll, the largest fishing community in Norway where the passion to become a veterinarian took place. He is also a keen fisherman and enjoys running or walking whilst on travels.

Patrick is an experienced aquaculture leader and expert who had his first exposure to the sector in 2005, upon purchasing and growing Seagull NV, the Belgium-based fish processing company. Patrick joined in November 2021 from SyAqua Group, an industry leader in early-stage nutrition and genetics for shrimp and tilapia, where he was chief executive officer pushing forward Asian market development. Prior to this Patrick spent 6 years in several key global leadership roles within BernAqua, Epicore Bionetworks, steering the company through a period of mergers, acquisitions, and integration, which significantly and strategically developed Neovia/ ADM business as a global aquaculture director. Patrick joins the Executive Management Team and will play a key role in developing and growing our Advanced Nutrition business as well as contributing strategically to the evolution of Benchmark over the coming years.

Ivonne joined Benchmark in 2017 after 20 years as Corporate Finance adviser at Cenkos Securities and Merrill Lynch. Throughout her career Ivonne has advised UK and international companies on a broad range of corporate finance transactions including IPO’s, fundraisings and M&A as well as on investor communications, corporate governance and regulatory matters. Ivonne holds a BSc in Engineering and an MBA from the Wharton School of Business.

Corina is an experienced global HR leader with over 25 years’ living and working extensively across EMEA, Asia and the Americas. She has worked for both large and complex companies in technology, pharmaceuticals, and financial services as well as smaller entrepreneurial start-up businesses.

Throughout her career Corina has led global HR teams in creating values-based company cultures, creating and leading employee engagement and development programs, and implementing reward and talent management strategies that support the achievement of business goals and objectives, together with acting as coach and mentor to senior leadership teams.

Corina joined Benchmark in January 2021 from Hyve Group Plc where she was Chief People Officer.

Ross joined Benchmark in March 2022 as Director of Innovation in Benchmark Genetics, where he leads strategic R&D programmes, with a particular focus on applications of emerging technologies.  He has been recently appointed as Chair of the Benchmark Innovation Board, which fosters exploitation of synergies across the Genetics, Health, and Advanced Nutrition business units.

Ross is an internationally leading scientist in the field of aquaculture genetics and biotechnology, having formerly been Personal Chair of Aquaculture Genetics, and Deputy Director for Translation and Commercialisation, at the Roslin institute. He has authored or coauthored more than 100 scientific publications, with several of his discoveries applied in the aquaculture industry to improve animal health and performance.