Alex Hofer

Martin Howarth - Managing Director

Country
Winchester - United Kingdom

Background

Martin joined Rochem in 1992 as Technical Manager based in the UK. He has over 34 years experience in the gas turbine field, initially working for Centrax Gas Turbines as a Commissioning Engineering before progressing to Shell in the Netherlands as an Operations and Maintenance Engineer in CHP projects. He then transferred to Emstar PLC as a Senior Commissioning Engineer for a CHP plant in Greenwich, completing that stage of his career as Operations and Maintenance Manager, before joining Rochem.

Martin started his career as a Marine Engineering Officer in the British Merchant Navy, travelling the world before returning to university to study Electrical and Electronic Engineering. An extensive knowledge of mechanical and electrical engineering together with hands on experience with gas turbines provides a bedrock for his work at Rochem. He was appointed Rochem Group Engineering Manager in 2002 and then Managing Director in June 2016. He is now enjoying the new challenge of leading the company forward.

Martin's long-time hobby is scuba diving in which he is highly qualified, having dived in waters stretching from Australia to his home patch of Cornwall. He is a keen motorcyclist, adventure riding extensively across Europe and into Africa. Currently his main pursuit is triathlon, having completed two half iron man events. He plans to complete the full distance before the next BIG birthday!

Martin is married with a son and two daughters.

Duncan Thorpe - Operations Manager

Country
Winchester - United Kingdom

Background
Duncan joined Rochem in 1999 as an Electrical Engineer with a background in Electrical Engineering and Information Technology. He had previously completed a 4-year apprenticeship in Electrical Engineering with a major manufacturer of Tobacco machinery. He then joined Vero Electronics, a company involved with the design and manufacture of equipment and systems for such customers as Nokia, Ericsson and NDS (News Data Systems), part of the Rupert Murdoch empire!

After initially joining RTS to look after all things electrical, Duncan later moved ‘upstairs’ to become Technical Coordinator. During a company restructuring in 2016 Duncan was appointed to the new role of Operations Manager and now works closely with the MD, Martin Howarth. He manages the day to day running of the business and is committed to driving the company forward.

Duncan lives in Winchester with his partner Helen and young daughter Lottie. In his spare time he enjoys playing 6 a side football, socialising and attending events on the VW scene calendar. He owns a lovingly restored Disney-commissioned "Herbie" (The "Love Bug") VW Beetle which he hires for weddings and corporate events and is also currently restoring a 1965 VW Splitscreen Kombi bus.

Adrienne Griffiths - Finance Manager
 

Country
Winchester, UK
 

Background

Adrienne is the newest member of The Rochem Team and joined January 2019. Adrienne has over 25 years experience in finance, working in both the public and private sectors. Before moving abroad in 2000 she worked as a management accountant for a large service provider.  After working for an accountancy firm in Australia for 7 years Adreinne returned to the UK and worked as a Finance Manager in the construction industry before moving into manufacturing.  
Adrienne holds a BA (Hons) degree in Public Administration from Manchester University.

After living abroad for 11 years Adrienne now lives in Winchester with her two children, and still loves to travel when she can. Adrienne enjoys keeping fit through running, boxing and the gym and likes to compete obstacle runs, playing tennis and golf when time allows.

Ivan Willie - Quality Manager

Country
Winchester - United Kingdom

Background
Ivan has been with Rochem for over three years. In addition to being Quality Manager, he has an important lead role in Technical Coordination and Production Planning. Ivan joined Rochem with a wealth of experience gained from many companies that manufacture fluid movement and control products for a wide range of industries lead by Oil & Gas. This experience includes Quality Assurance, Project Management, Product Development and Operations Management.

Ivan enjoys a newly found interest in gardening, spending time with family and supporting the National Trust.

Chris Edwards - Design & Application Engineer

Country
Winchester - United Kingdom
 

Background
Chris joined our Rochem team back in July 2017, having previously completed a Masters in mechanical engineering at Portsmouth University, specialising in CFD and FEA simulations. A background in the manufacturing industry has given him a wealth of knowledge in lean methodology as well as the ability to excel under pressure to achieve targets.

Chris is involved in the engineering side of the business, specialising in fluid dynamics and CFD simulation. He gets involved with many aspects of the business, but most of his time is spent designing wash systems or on various R&D projects. His ambition is to further develop his skills and expand his responsibilities within the company. As part of this he hopes to work towards chartership status with ImechE. 

Outside of Rochem,  Chris is a regular at his local fencing club which he started at Univeristy and is often seen competing at competitions. He enjoys not only the fast pace of the sport but also the mental and physical challenges involved. 

David Brand -  UK & International Sales Manager (Oil & Gas)

Country
UK & Worldwide

Background
David has a background in aeronautical engineering, manufacturing engineering and technical sales. He joined Rochem in 2010, developing on his existing experience, he has risen to take command of UK & International sales within the Oil and Gas sector. David has extensive knowledge and experience within the Oil and Gas sector, carrying out Offshore asset surveys as well as overseeing installation projects both on and offshore. David is also responsible for researching and developing within the Oil and Gas market, he provides support for Rochem's local agents and offices around the world with regards to sales and product training.

Away from Rochem, David has two young children which keep him busy. In what spare time he finds, David enjoys football, rugby (Bournemouth RFU), scuba diving, motorsports, travelling and DIY.

Steve Deane - Technical Manager for Aviation and Gas Turbines

Country
Winchester - United Kingdom
 

Background
Steve Deane joined the Rochem team back in 2017, having moved from ZOK International Group. Prior to this, Steve served 12 years in the British Royal Airforce as a Propulsion Systems Engineer. He has also held the position of Process & Manufacturing Engineer within the Medical Devices sector, Research and Development Project Manager and Production Control Specialist positions for Rockwell Collins Training & Simulation. He is passionate about compressor washing technology and efficiency recovery mechanisms.

Steve is currently studying for a B.Eng (Hons) degree in Engineering.

Steve is married with two daughters and enjoys trail running, mountain biking and generally any pursuit that involves being outdoors.

Position

Sales Manager

Country

Brookfield, Connecticut - USA

Background

Steve began his career with Magnavox Advanced Products division in Torrance, CA where he worked on the military GPS Phase II program as the engineering liaison to purchasing. Then worked for a Japanese import/export company of military electronics and aircraft spare parts where he became involved with compressor cleaning of gas turbine engines. Joined Lucas Aerospace in 1991 as the product specialist for engine cleaning. Was promoted to product manager responsible for the engine department. Joined Rochem in 1997 as the northeast sales representative. A “field guy” who has developed the eastern seaboard and the midwest. Was promoted to eastern sales manager with the added responsibility for overseeing the gulf region sales. Was promoted to sales manager in 2017 responsible for continuing the growth of sales in the Americas.

Steve enjoys his large music library of vinyl, CDs and digital music from various eras and plays on a number of guitars collected over the years. Also enjoys boating, cooking, golf, and watching his favorite sports teams.

Frans Kok - Engineering Consultant (Process Compressors)

Country
The Netherlands

Background
Frans Kok joined Rochem in 2016 and is based in The Netherlands. He has over 28 years of extensive project and operational experience in the oil and gas, petrochemical, and power generation industry. He started his career with the Royal Dutch Shell Group of Companies where he spent 9 successful years. He has also enjoyed successful senior positions with other major companies such as Dow Chemicals, Aker Kvaerner, Rolls-Royce, and Stork. He has been based in Southeast Asia (Singapore, Brunei, and Indonesia) and worked in many other countries covering Europe, North America, the Middle East, and Asia. Prior to joining Parwana, he was Senior Project Manager at Tebodin Consultants & Engineers where he managed various multidisciplinary projects in the oil and gas, and food processing industry. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Applied Sciences in Haarlem, The Netherlands.

Outside of Rochem, Frans enjoys discovering new places and the history, flying RC Airplanes, fishing and spending time with his family.

Steven Jones -  Vice-president, Rochem Technical Services USA Ltd

Country
Cape Coral, Florida
 

Background
Steven Jones joined Rochem in 1982. He has experience in a full range of industrial and aviation gas turbine application with the Rochem equipment and chemicals. Active in all phases of operations with Rochem including Sales & Marketing, Product Development, Management and Corporate Strategy. Steven is well versed in public speaking in domestic and international forums with a skilled level in presentation. Steven is also President of Rochems’ Aviation Division.

Steven enjoys boating, golfing a fine wine and spending time with his family.

Maha Chandar - Accounts Administrator 

Country
Winchester, UK

Background

Maha celebrates her 10th year here at Rochem this year! Maha is responsible for processing, maintaining and reconciling accounts, supporting import and export documentation, liaising with other team members in order to put the finance view in context.

Outisde of Rochem, Maha lives with Husband and two children and in her spare time running a Junior Chess Club and organising chess tournaments.

Nithin Joseph - Regional Manager
(Middle East & Indian Sub continent)
 

Country
UAE

Background

Nithin joined RTS team in February 2010. He was then responsible for sales in UAE & Oman market. Within a short span of time he successfully installed and commissioned gas turbine compressor washing system on various engines throughout UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman and India, and he continued to provide direct technical support to agents and end users, At present, Nithin serves as Regional manager for the Middle East & India sub-continent markets.

Nithin was awarded, Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering with First Class from Anna University, Chennai and began his career as Service Sales Engineer in Bajaj Advance Service System. Later on he moved on to Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore Ltd (FACT) Cochin, where he worked with their design and maintenance department. He was trained in Naphtha based 900ton/day ammonia production plant & gained extensive experience in designing, operations and maintenance of various process plants and equipment by their engineering organisation, FEDO. He did his academic project and in plant training in Steel & Industrial Forging Ltd (SIFL), India.

Nithin lives in Sharjah, UAE with his wife and two sons. During his school days, Nithin had undergone 5 year training under National Cadet Corps (Indian Army) and achieved a rank of Junior under officer. Nithin loves motor cycling and adventures riding across Indian sub-continent. His favourite sport is cricket.