Our People
The senior management team at ABSL:
Nathan Burkey Executive Chairman
Nathan is an entrepreneur, investor and board member of a portfolio of growth businesses in alternative energy, media and finance. Nathan brings insight to these businesses on corporate strategy and financing gained during his 20 years working in investment banking and fund management.
Until 2016, Nathan was Managing Partner of Kew Capital LLP, where he oversaw private investments in various pharmaceutical, biofuel and telecoms companies. Before co-founding Kew Capital in 2008, he was a Managing Director at Credit Suisse (UK), where he was Head of Structuring for the CEEMEA (Central & Eastern Europe, Middle East & Africa) region within the Bank’s Fixed Income division.
Nathan received his B.A. in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University.
Andy Cornell Chief Executive Officer
Andy has worked for advanced biofuels companies in senior roles for the last 10 years. During this time, he has built up a wealth of experience in the sector. He is an active member of several industry bodies and regularly contributes to sector research and articles.
Prior to joining ABSL, he worked in the telecoms sector for BT and Arqiva in a variety of engineering, financial and commercial roles in the UK and USA.
Andy has a B.Sc. in mathematics from the University of Warwick and a Master in Satellite and Mobile Engineering from the University of Surrey. He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales and the Institute of Electrical Engineers.
Penny McDermid Chief Financial Officer
Penny is a finance professional with over 17 years of experience and a particular focus on transaction structuring, process and board level advisory. She is equipped with unique and broad insight and a proven capacity to support growth across industries through management support, restructuring, strategy and financial management.
Until 2018 Penny was a Partner at a UK based private equity fund where she managed a portfolio of deals with overall responsibility from investment to deal exit and gained extensive experience in deal structuring, capital raising and capital structure optimisation. Prior to that Penny worked in structured lending at Credit Suisse, and fixed income trading at Merrill Lynch. She started her career as an engineering project manager and corporate development advisor in the oil and gas industry.
Penny received her B.SC.Eng in Chemical Engineering from Queen’s University in Canada, and an MBA from IESE Business School in Spain.
Richard Taylor Technical and Operations Director
Richard has worked in the advanced biofuel sector for ten years in roles covering technical innovation, operations and process engineering. Richard developed the concepts behinds the BioSNG plant. He has published a wide range of papers on advanced biofuel production.
Richard is an engineering professional with more than 15 years’ experience in chemical engineering roles. Richard has worked in the industrial minerals sector as General Manager Operations of Australian China Clays and as Process Development Manager for Imerys Minerals.
Richard is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Institute of Chemical Engineers.
Kevin Griggs Engineering and Project Director
Kevin has worked for advanced biofuel companies for the last four years. He has been responsible for design and vendor management, programme and other aspects of construction and commissioning.
Kevin is a Mechanical Engineer with over 20 years’ experience in Engineering, Manufacturing and Capital Project Management. He has a background spanning multiple sectors including chemical, dairy, automotive and pharmaceutical manufacturing and engineering.
Kevin is a Certified Project Management Professional and a member of the Institute of Engineering Designers.