Gerard Fairtlough Author

Gerard Fairtlough was trained as a biochemist, graduating from Cambridge University in 1953. He worked in the Royal Dutch Shell group for 25 years, the last five as CEO of Shell Chemicals U.K. In 1980 he founded the leading biopharmaceuticals company Celltech and was its CEO until 1990. Since then he has been involved in the start-up of several high-technology businesses, as a non-executive director or as a 'business angel'. He has been an advisor to various government and academic institutions, including Specialist Advisor to the House of Commons Select Committee on Science and Technology, a member of the Science and Engineering Council, and Chair of the Advisory Panel, Science Policy Research Unit, Sussex University. Gerard is also the author of Creative Compartments: A Design for Future Organisation (Adamantine Press, London, 1994), and co-author with Julie Allan and Barbara Heinzen of The Power of the Tale: Using Narratives for Organisational Success (Wiley, Chichester, 2001). He has also written extensively on the theory and practice of organizations and of innovation.