On the move: the latest East Midlands hires
Loughborough-based Drug Discovery Solutions, which provides DMPK (drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics) consultancy services to drug discovery research teams, has announced the appointment of two scientists.
Joining Drug Discovery Solutions as Principal DMPK Scientists are Laie Abelló and Victoria Ford.
Abelló joins the company from Charnwood Discovery, where she was director of DMPK.
Before this, Abelló worked in specialist DMPK roles at Benevolent AI, Sygnature Discovery, XenoGesis, and Almac Group.
Ford also joins from Charnwood Discovery, where she was a group leader (DMPK), having previously worked at Sygnature Discovery, XenoGesis and Evotec.
In their new roles at Drug Discovery Solutions, which is based at the Canal House in Loughborough, both will support customer projects to understand the DMPK properties and challenges of their molecules to progress their most promising compounds.
Abelló said: “I am really pleased to have the opportunity to work with Richard again in my new role at Drug Discovery Solutions. He was a great mentor when we worked together at XenoGesis and I learnt a lot from him, which paved the way to me setting up the DMPK department at Charnwood Discovery. I am looking forward to focusing fully on the science, which is where my passion lies.”
Ford said: “I have worked with Laie since my time at XenoGesis – we work well together and can draw on our different experiences to help understand complex problems. Returning to a consultancy environment and supporting clients feels like a natural next step for me and an exciting opportunity.”
Jason Davenport has been promoted to director of traffic and transportation at East Midlands-based civil and structural engineering company BSP Consulting.
He takes over from one of the founding directors of BSP Consulting, Mark Rayers, who is stepping back to become a part-time consultant to the business.
Davenport was previously associate director of transportation at BSP Consulting and joined the company as a transport engineer just a month after it was founded in 1999 and has been a key member of the team ever since.
Jason Davenport
His expertise includes transport planning, travel plans, transport assessment, access strategy, noise assessments and safety audits and ranges across all sectors, having worked on schemes at airports and universities through to supermarkets and housing developments.
BSP MD Carl Hilton said: “We are very pleased to announce the promotion of Jason Davenport to director of traffic and transportation at BSP Consulting. Our ethos is to promote from within wherever possible, which provides our team with opportunities to progress in their careers and also enables smooth succession planning for the business.
“Jason has been a loyal, experienced, and valued part of the team at BSP right from the start and his promotion is very well deserved. As one of the founding directors of BSP Consulting, Mark has played a pivotal role in the success of BSP – helping the company to grow to become one of the largest independent civil and structural engineering businesses in the East Midlands.
“We are very pleased that he is staying with us as a part-time consultant and continuing to support the extensive network of clients that we have built up since the business began more than 25 years ago.”
Throughout his time at BSP, Davenport has held positions as transport engineer, senior transport engineer, associate and associate director.
His appointment as director of traffic and transportation began on 1st February 2025.
He said: “Under Mark Rayers, the traffic and transportation department at BSP Consulting has earned an excellent reputation as a professional and skilled team that provides outstanding service to clients. I have worked with Mark for 28 years in total, having met him before he became a founding director at BSP, and I am proud to have been appointed to head up the team going forward and to continue the good work that BSP has become renowned for.”
Nottingham-based Games Workshop has announced the appointment of Eric Maugein to the board as a non-executive director.
He will also join the audit and risk, remuneration, and nomination committees.
With over 35 years of experience in the consumer goods sector, Maugein spent two decades at The LEGO Group, most recently serving as regional president for the Asia Pacific region.
He has expertise in developing and leading market expansion strategies across the Middle East, Europe, and Asia, including key growth initiatives in China and India.
