Rachel started work in the chemical industry in 1989 and had various roles in technical departments until 2001 when she moved into a sales role. Along the way Rachel studied part time to achieve a Bsc (Hons) in Applied Chemistry from Liverpool John Moores University in 1996. From starting in the QC department of an activated carbon manufacturer Rachel moved to the research and development department of a absorbent clay producer – Laporte Industries. When Laporte started to buy iron oxide pigment producers in Europe and the USA she became part of a team working on product and process development for iron oxides. These projects gave her the opportunity to work up from 500ml glass beakers on the bench to clambering over 5mt reactors in Italy usually, it seemed, in the middle of the night! Rachel then moved onto providing technical service to decorative and industrial coatings customers, giving her a broad background in coatings formulations and close contact with customers. She spent a year working for a coil coatings manufacturer which involved colour matching, technical support to production, running customer trials and product development. At this stage Rachel returned to her iron oxide background in a sales role, again for Laporte, who are now Rockwood. Her next move was to a distributor supplying resins, pigments and additives to the UK coatings industry before joining Cornelius in 2007.

I enjoy exploring the countryside around my home in North Cheshire with my family, clay pigeon shooting, Pilates and cooking.