Dick Elsy

Dick Elsy is a career veteran from the UK automotive industry and is Chairman of AB Dynamics plc, the AIM listed supplier of integrated test systems in that sector. He has just retired as a non-executive director of AWE plc, which manages the UK’s nuclear deterrent.

Until May 2021 he was the first Chief Executive of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, the largest advanced manufacturing research institute in Europe.

In his automotive career, the bulk of his time was spent at Land Rover and then Jaguar, where he was engineering director. At Land Rover, where he started his career as one of the key project team members on the original Discovery programme, he became a member of the Board from where he led the creation, development, and manufacture of the Freelander. Prior to joining the HVM Catapult, Dick was the CEO of Torotrak plc the FTSE listed developer of traction drive technology.

In 2020 Dick chaired the Ventilator Challenge UK consortium, a collection of significant industrial and engineering partners from across the UK which manufactured and delivered over 13,000 ventilators for the NHS during the COVID-19 pandemic.

He is a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and a holder of its Silver Medal.

He also holds an honorary Professorship at Strathclyde University and an honorary doctorate at Cranfield University

He was recognised for his contribution to manufacturing and technology in the UK with a CBE in 2018.