Matthew Durdy is Chief Executive of the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult, having been part of the founding team in 2012. Prior to 2020, he was Chief Business Officer and was responsible for strategy, communications, marketing, and business development. He is a global champion for the early integration of healthcare economics and reimbursement expertise into decision-making and clinical product design. He is a member of the board of The Alliance for Regenerative Medicine, a global industry body.

He began his career in international investment banking and venture capital and has successfully invested in and managed a number of biotechnology SMEs and regional operations of multinational organisations. He has an MA from the University of Oxford in Pure and Applied Biology, an MBA from the University of Chicago, and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment.

Erika Lewis is the CEO of Connected Places Catapult, the UK’s innovation agency for transport, construction, data infrastructure and local growth. She is responsible for setting and delivering a strategy that helps UK SMEs test, trial and commercialise innovations at scale, and fuels business growth and investment in these sectors.

Before joining the Catapult, Erika was CEO of the UK Government’s AI Safety Summit, and worked for the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT).

Erika’s career has focused on leveraging innovation to drive economic development and national impact. As a Director in cyber security, digital identity, and data policy for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), she delivered the National Data Strategy and led the development of the Covid response package for the voluntary sector. She previously held positions at the Competition and Markets Authority, Greater London Authority and London Development Agency.

Erika is a non-executive director of AIRTO, the Association for Innovation, Research and Technology Organisations. She formerly served as a Board Member of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, and on the Audit and Risk committee at the Open University.

David is the Interim CEO of Digital Catapult. David is an Executive Director of the Digital Catapult Board and is the executive lead for the company’s Audit & Risk Committee and Investment Governance Committee.

David brings financial, strategic and operational expertise having held board positions in several sectors including marketing and communications, retail & leisure and the charity sector. He has a history of delivering transformation through digitisation, whilst having a laser focus on “brilliant basics”.

David is also the Chair of the Finance Committee at Global’s charity, Make Some Noise, where he has been a trustee for the past two years.

Guy was appointed Chief Executive Officer at Energy Systems Catapult, the innovation business, in June 2022. Guy joined ESC in 2018 as Director of Strategy after working as an energy and political adviser to two UK Government Secretaries of State; Greg Clark and Amber Rudd. In Government, he was involved in many key decisions, including closing the UK’s coal-fired power stations, greater independence for the electricity system operator, and as an architect of the Clean Growth Strategy.

Before joining Government, he was Head of Policy at the challenger energy supplier, OVO Energy and Head of Environment and Energy at the influential think tank, Policy Exchange. He was previously a journalist, including three years as a foreign correspondent in Hong Kong for the international newswire, AFP. He is a non-executive director with UK100, a charity campaigning for greater environmental action by local authorities. He lives in Enfield, with his wife and two children.

Katherine Bennett is CEO of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, where she leads the organisation in its primary mission – driving industrial transformation through innovation.

She is a strong advocate for UK industrial capability and holds number of key positions on industrial bodies, including membership of the boards of the European Association of Research and Technology Associations (EARTO), the Aerospace Growth Partnership and working with national partners on the Tata Steel/Port Talbot Transition Board to support communities and workers through the move towards low carbon steelmaking. In addition to this, she was invited to join vocL, the platform that promotes responsible business voices, by its founder, the industrialist and chair of GB Energy, Juergen Maier.

Katherine serves as Chair of the Advisory Council for the Centre for Resilience in Environment, Water and Waste (CREWW), which has been established in association with Exeter University and the Pennon Group to undertake research into the challenges facing the water sector in the UK. She also chaired Western Gateway Pan Regional Partnership for four years and served on the Levelling Up Advisory Council chaired by Andy Haldane.

Katherine has worked extensively in manufacturing having spent 16 years at Airbus, latterly leading UK strategy and corporate affairs, but also working in the UK and at the leading aerospace manufacturer’s headquarters in Toulouse. She was also head of policy and public affairs for General Motors (Vauxhall) in the UK.

She has a passion for diversity in engineering and manufacturing led to her foundation of the Women in Aviation and Aerospace Charter and in 2019 was awarded a CBE for her contribution to aerospace and aviation. She holds honorary doctorates from Cranfield University and UWE Bristol.

Mike has over 25 years of experience in the life sciences sector, working as COO and R&D Leader across pharmaceutical and vaccines R&D, and commercial.

Mike’s most recent role was Head of Global Health at LifeArc where he led the design and implementation of LifeArc’s strategy in Global Health, a £100m programme of investments focussed on driving forward scientific innovation in antimicrobial resistance, neglected tropical diseases and emerging viral threats. In less than 2 years, he identified and launched an initial portfolio of collaborations with world class organisations (>£50m investment with £20m external funding leveraged) that have clear routes to patient impact.

Prior to this, Mike spent more than 20 years at GSK, where he held a number of increasingly senior roles. He led the creation of several industry-leading collaborative initiatives including the Tres Cantos Open Lab, the Africa Non-Communicable Diseases Open Lab, and a collaboration with Novartis exploring genetic diversity and response to medicines in African patients.
Mike’s last role at GSK was Vice President Global Health Catalyst, where he was responsible for partnerships/external funding, business strategy and operations, and product strategy/market access within GSK’s Global Health Pharmaceuticals Unit.

Mike has a PhD in Applied Mathematics, an MSc in Mathematics and Biology, a BSc in Mathematics, as well as an Executive MBA from London Business School.

Mike joined MDC in 2025 as the first Managing Director. In his role, he is accountable for providing organisational leadership and driving the delivery success of MDC. He oversees the development and execution of business strategies and leads the senior leadership team to create impact in the life sciences sector.

Cristina Garcia-Duffy is ORE Catapult’s Acting CEO and Technical Director, leading the strategic development of our technical capabilities and new areas of innovation. She was formally Head of Technology at the UK Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) and prior to that, Cristina held management positions at Leonardo Helicopters including responsibility for the Company’s UK Advanced Rotorcraft Centres.

She was also in the leadership team of Project Zero, which delivered the world’s first electric autonomous tilt-rotor demonstrator aircraft. The team and aircraft have been recognised with various international awards since 2012.

Cristina holds a PhD in Aerospace Engineering from Washington University in St. Louis and an MSc and BSc in Aerospace Engineering from Saint Louis University, both in the USA.

John Abbott is the CEO of the Satellite Application Catapult, a world-leading technology and innovation company, helping businesses of all sizes realise the potential from space. His previous role was at the Real Estate Registry in Saudi Arabia, where he was Chief Digital Officer. As employee number two, he was instrumental in delivering the Kingdom’s first-ever land ownership registry as part of a public-private partnership supported by the Public Investment Fund. John was previously Director of Digital Data and Technology and a member of the Executive Board at HM Land Registry, where he led a successful £200m digital transformation programme and the organisation’s pioneering open innovation programme, Digital Street. Before this, he was Head of Digital Products at Ordnance Survey, where he was responsible for digitising and publishing the organisation’s geospatial data as well as the Innovations Lab and Geovation, a successful start-up incubator, which has supported more than 150 early-stage businesses which together have raised £130m. Earlier roles included Product Director at Mimecast, the UK tech company acquired by Permira for $5.8Bn. He has an MBA from Imperial College London, is married with three children and enjoys playing tennis