Herbert said, “Luxfer really is Nottingham’s best kept secret, tucked away in Colwick, and when I saw the role, it ticked so many boxes. Before joining Luxfer, I didn’t have an appreciation of the scale and diversity of the gas cylinder industry, nor did I realise that the hydrogen economy, from a transportation perspective, is as dynamic as it is. That was a huge draw for me.”

As Luxfer continues to expand its alternative fuel offering, designing hydrogen solutions to help decarbonise the transport sector, Herbert’s mix of experience was deemed a perfect match.

An engineer by degree, studying at Loughborough University, he spent the first part of his career in the profession before evolving into project management. Roles with leading automotive organisations Tsubakimoto and Gates Corporation followed, working with Toyota, Ford, Jaguar and Volvo, after which Nick secured his first director position with vehicle conversion specialists Bri-Stor Systems, before venturing into the green energy sector with a company manufacturing components for wind turbines.

Nick attributes the move to Luxfer Gas Cylinders to being inspired by its work harnessing hydrogen fuel.

He added, “It was also a great opportunity to tie together all my experience as an engineer and a project manager, with my automotive experience, business development, commercial leadership, sales background, and just be a part of something inspiring, as we move forward with our growth strategy.”

He said the Midlands is “a real hotbed of industrial excellence”, with household names like Rolls Royce, Toyota and Bombardier. Slightly further afield is JCB and in the West Midlands is Jaguar, Land Rover and Aston Martin, among others. “But as well as industrial excellence, we have world-leading academia through the region’s universities, right on our doorstep,” he said.

With a passion for UK manufacturing and particularly supporting STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) education, Herbert is keen to attract more young talent into the industry by shifting perspectives.

“Manufacturing and engineering is not necessarily what people think it is. There are many other routes to supporting UK manufacturing that aren’t traditional “engineering” based, and if more young people see that, it’s going to open up manufacturing to people who might have never thought of it before. Bringing in future talent is really going to help boost and support UK manufacturing, far and wide.

“Because you study engineering at university or as an apprentice, it doesn’t mean you’re destined to be doing that for the rest of your career. I’m from an engineering background but I no longer work day-to-day as an engineer. You get that grounding and then you can go on to so many other areas of interest.”

As a champion of nurturing young talent, Herbert is pleased to be joining a company with an established and recognised apprenticeship scheme.

He said, “As industry manufacturing grows, the attraction of apprenticeships grows… an apprenticeship offers that ability to earn and learn – what’s better than that?”