Versarien has announced the appointment of Dr Stephen Hodge as the company's chief executive officer with immediate effect.

Stephen joined the Forest of Dean-based advanced materials engineering group in 2017 and was appointed head of research in July 2018 before being appointed to the board as chief technology officer in January 2021.

Prior to this, he was employed as a principal engineer at Cambridge Graphene Ltd, a supplier of graphene inks and other graphene materials and a subsidiary of Versarien.

He has also held post‐doctoral research associate positions at the Cambridge Graphene Centre, a research centre attached to the Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge, and in the Department of Chemistry at Imperial College London, where he also completed a PhD in Nanomaterial Chemistry.

Stephen is a member of a number of advisory boards including holding the role of chairman of the Technical Working Group within the Graphene REACH registration consortium.

Last year he was awarded the Royal Society of Chemistry Rising Star in Industry Award 'for strategic leadership in developing greener solutions and advocating for global regulations related to the physical and toxicological testing of graphene'.

Versarien has also received confirmation that company founder and former CEO Neill Ricketts has resigned from the board with effect from 14 July 2023 and is no longer a director of the company. He continues on garden leave with no day‐to‐day responsibilities unless required by the company.

Diane Savory, non‐executive chair of Versarien, said: "I am very pleased that we are announcing the appointment of Stephen Hodge as Versarien's chief executive officer. Stephen has been with Versarien for the past six years during which time he has been instrumental in the development of the company's advanced materials technology and progressing our commercial relationships.

"I believe he is ideally placed to lead the company as we continue to progress our turnaround strategy and focus on the development and commercialisation of Cementene™ and Graphene‐Wear™."

She added: "On behalf of the board I would like to thank Neill Ricketts for his contribution to the company since its formation and we wish him well in his future endeavours.

"We look forward to updating shareholders on the continuing progress with our turnaround strategy in the coming months."

Yesterday, Punchline reported that Versarien had delivered the first-ever 3D-printed concrete headwall  as part of a road upgrade in Cornwall.

Last week, we reported reported that Versarien had raised £650,000  (before expenses) by way of a placing of shares, using the proceeds for working capital purposes and as bridge finance to extend the company's cash runway ahead of any funds received from asset sales.