> 1980 graduated as a Mechanical Engineer at Salford University. Richard wanted to use his engineering skills to understand and predict how the human body behaves during and after surgery. At 24, Richard was working closely alongside surgeons in theatre at Kings College Hospital in London to investigate ways of minimising risk and increasing success post-operatively. As a result of research he helped develop a measurement of blood flow through artificial arteries enabling surgeons to predict the success rate of the surgery and identify any potential of blood clots following surgery. Richard spent three years educating surgeons and theatre practitioners and publishing research papers to the scientific and medical community. At 27, Richard was lecturing across Europe and his blood flow measurements became a routine part of surgery.

> Richard left academia to work for several medical device companies supplying cardio pulmonary equipment to hospitals and artificial arteries to surgeons. Over the next two years Richard successfully developed new international markets for these products in the Middle East, Russia and Eastern Europe, North and South America.

> Having realised that control over product development and innovation would mean he was better able to focus on customer needs, Richard setup Shield Medicare Ltd in April 1989, aged just 29. Working closely with his customer base saw the development of an inventive range of medical devices for Ear, Nose & Throat and orthopaedics into UK and international markets.

> By 1992 Richard was becoming aware of the huge demand from customers for contamination control products. To continue his approach of supplying customer needs he set up a manufacturing facility and began developing a range of biocides that would ultimately become the leading product of choice.

> By 1996 sales of contamination control gave Shield Medicare the market lead in contamination control products. Their ability to develop and produce high quality products, provide exceptional technical backup and world leading innovation ensured outstanding company growth. This was reinforced by a market leading innovation that allowed Shield to increase their market share. Richard developed a patented packaging innovation that ensured products remained sterile even during use. In the following 18 months, building on its Òcustomer listeningÓ approach Shield Medicare brought over 100 new contamination
control products to market.

> In 2001, Shield was accredited to a manufacturing quality standard cGMP (current Good Manufacturing Practice). cGMP sets the pharmaceutical industry manufacturing standard, without which companies would not be allowed to operate. Shield was now firmly setting the standard in contamination control and Shield products could be found in every UK hospital and pharmaceutical company both nationally and internationally. This resulted in Shield being audited on average once every ten days by major pharmaceutical companies like GlaxoWelcome and Pfizer.

> Over the next five years Shield increased international activity, exporting across the globe and opening offices in France and Germany. Shield’s products were used by British Beagle 2 Space Program to clean the satellite being sent to Mars to ensure that planet was not contaminated with life from Earth! For a number of years Shield was able to double in size every 100 weeks.

> Shield Medicare was acquired in June 2006 by Ecolab, an American company with a turnover of $4 billion.

> Richard formed MEDSA Group in 2006. There are five companies within MEDSA GROUP, with plans for more, all at different stages and serving different markets. Together they have a combined T/O in excess of £10m and are growing at 50% per year.