Neill Ricketts, CEO of Versarien, commented: “We are delighted to welcome Peter Jay to Versarien. Peter will be key to ensuring the successful execution of our Chinese expansion plans and his arrival further broadens our special relationship with the UK Government.
“I would again like to express my sincere thanks to the Department for International Trade for their continued support and in particular their faith in Versarien through seconding a further senior resource.”
Versarien plc (LON:VRS), the advanced materials engineering group,today announced that Peter Jay, Head of Policy and Governance for Outward Direct Investment at the UK Government’s Department for International Trade has joined Versarien on a secondment for a minimum of 12 months. During this period he will work exclusively for Versarien and will be primarily responsible for overseeing the Company’s planned People’s Republic of China expansion implementation in the role of Deputy Head of International Strategy and Government Relations.
The appointment of Peter Jay follows that of Matt Walker announced on 22 May 2018, who also joined Versarien on secondment from the DIT as the Company’s Head of International Strategy and Government Relations.
Since the DIT’s creation on 13 July 2016, the Secretary of State for International Trade has been clear that the DIT should support UK businesses with their overseas investments and has named this as one of the department’s priorities. The DIT therefore agreed to the secondment of Peter Jay, alongside Matt Walker to help progress Versarien’s overseas investment ambitions, ensuring Versarien benefits from UK Government connectivity and the UK Government benefits from the knowledge gained through seconding senior resource into the private sector.
Peter Jay graduated with a Master of Physics degree from the University of Bath. Upon graduation he worked as an investment analyst at Mercer Ltd, a global leader in investment consulting. He moved to China in 2012 to study Mandarin Chinese at Tsinghua University in Beijing, before returning to the UK and joining the Civil Service Fast Stream in 2014. He has had roles within HMRC, the Cabinet Office and spent time on secondment at Bristol City Council before joining the Department for International Trade in 2016. Within the Department for International Trade he worked in the infrastructure team before becoming the department’s Head of Policy and Governance for Outward Direct Investment.
