Commercial Director and Marketing Director, Synthomer

The Company 

Synthomer is a specialist chemical company that produces high-performance, highly specialised chemical products and solutions. Headquartered and listed in London, UK, Synthomer have revenues of £2bn+, and employ 4,000 people working across Europe, North America and Asia, with 31 manufacturing sites.  

Synthomer is one of a small number of global manufacturers of water-based anode binders for lithium-ion rechargeable batteries, found in electric vehicles, industrial storage batteries, smartphones and laptops. With market demand for rechargeable batteries, driven by rapid growth to support electrification, expected to achieve CAGR of c. 21% in China and c. 29% in Europe between now and 2030, the forecast for battery binders global sales is to grow substantially. It is, therefore, a technology that the group is investing in, to realise the significant growth potential in this market.  

The Role 

Requiring a new Commercial Director to deliver this plan, we were asked to lead an international search to identify candidates with a strong blend of commercial and technical leadership experience from the EV or Energy Storage sector. 

The Search 

With an approach that considered people across Europe, China and the US, the successful candidate was fortunately based in the UK – in close proximity to Synthomer’s HQ. From this process, a second candidate was appointed, as Global Marketing Director – also based in the UK.  

The Client 

‘I could not have been more pleased with the results Jonathan and Berwick Partners delivered for us. We had a need for a specialist in a niche and high demand area. I was impressed how quickly we had a large list of vetted qualified candidates. At the end we were able to be quite selective, focusing on nuances. We loved two of the three finalists so much we ended up hiring two of them. I look forward to working with Jonathan and Berwick on future searches.’ 

Vice President

Synthomer PLC