Ian Finch

Ian is Commercial Director (New Business) at Port of Tyne, focussing on the clean energy transition, including offshore wind, electric vehicles, battery storage, green hydrogen and digitalisation solutions.

His career began in 1998 in the Metrology and Statistical Process Control sector, then later Industrial Automation, selling advanced automation solutions to food, beverage, automotive, mining, metals, utilities and fast moving consumer goods clients. This included 12 years at Rockwell Automation, where he became National Key Account Manager for several Automotive OEMs.

In 2008, the National Renewable Energy Centre (Narec, now part of ORE Catapult), appointed Ian as Business Development Manager, responsible for local authority “Energy Master Planning”, social housing decarbonisation and EV charge point installation projects. He later transitioned to Narec’s Marine and Offshore division, selling offshore wind blade and nacelle test facilities to global OEMs.

In 2012 he joined GL Garrad Hassan (now DNV), then later, Bureau Veritas – two of the world’s leading TIC (Testing, Inspection and Certification) and Classification Societies – holding Global Business Development Manager positions for Offshore Wind and Marine Renewables.

Ian established CleanWatts in 2019, providing Management and Business Development consultancy services for various global customers, before joining Port of Tyne as full-time Commercial Director in April 2022.

As an active member and past Chairman of the Institution of Engineering and Technology Northumbria Network, Ian is passionate about engineering and how it can help solve the planet’s energy trilema.