The Research Team

Gerard Kirt - Gerard graduated with a BA in Industrial Design Engineering and spent 16 years with Baker Perkins (now APV) initially designing equipment and systems for food production and packaging, and subsequently in a direct sales role.  As Sales & Business Development Manager for High-Speed Packaging Systems, clients included Danone, Cadbury, Braumuller and Unilever.  Joining CEL International in 1993, Gerard remained in a sales role with responsibility for the food, drink and chemical sectors, and was appointed as Sales & Marketing Director in 1999 with overall responsibility for engineering and project management sales across the full range of process sectors.  Gerard joined Protel in 2001 to specialize in researching the food and drink sectors and now manages Protel's team of in-house and freelance researchers.  Gerard also continues to maintain an active role in project intelligence gathering through his wide network of industry contacts.
Email: gerardk@protelprojects.com

David Cox - David's post-graduate studies led to a PhD in the field of pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals and an initial career in chemical R&D with ICI and May & Baker.  David's sales career began with a scientific apparatus company and continued with a number of sales & marketing management positions with companies specializing in instrumentation, components and testing systems for the semiconductor, pharmaceutical and chemical sectors.  In 1987 David joined Schott Glass as Business Development Manager of their Process Plant division and became directly involved with clients such as Glaxo Wellcome, BP-Amoco, ICI, Hoescht, Zeneca, Pfizer, Schering Plough and Merck.  Following 2 years as Business Development Manager for Chemquip, with responsibility for chemical processing system sales, David joined Protel in 2000. His extensive knowledge of processing systems and manufacturing facilities throughout the UK and Ireland, coupled with his wide-ranging portfolio of industry contacts gives him unique access to sources of information, particularly in the highly sensitive pharmaceutical, biotech and chemical sectors.
Email: davidc@protelprojects.com

Andrea Jackson - Andrea's career within process industry began in 1985 when she joined Extract Technology, a supplier of containment systems for the pharmaceutical, chemical and biotech markets.  Her work in assisting the Sales Director led her into a direct sales and intelligence gathering role, sourcing and tracking project information with existing and new clients.  Extract Technology became a Protel subscriber in 2001 and Andrea's work included following up the project sales leads that they received.  In 2002 she joined Protel, becoming a highly successful member of its sales team, and subsequently moved into a research role focusing on food, drink, secondary pharmaceuticals and laboratories.  Andrea is an excellent communicator and networker and combines her research skills with a keen understanding of the key information required by project sales teams.
Email: andreaj@protelprojects.com