Our People

David Repper – Chairman and Managing Director

David is the Company Owner, Chairman and Managing Director, and has been working at James Heal since 1969.

 He is a Chartered Textile Technologist and an Associate of the Institute of Linguists. For the last 30 years, David has been the Managing Director and driving force behind James Heal. With his vast knowledge and expertise in the field of Textile Testing, and despite the decline of the UK manufacturing industry, David has managed to grow the Company into the most successful manufacturer and supplier of textile testing instruments in the world.

Lynda Repper – Owner and Director

Lynda is a Director and Part Owner of James Heal and has worked for the Company for more than 20 years.

Michael Minich – Finance Director

Michael is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and joined James Heal in October 1988.

Michael oversees the Accounts team, the Information Technology department and the Materials Management function, which includes Purchasing and Planning. Outside of work, Michael is heavily involved in Flyball, a dog sport in which he is a qualified judge, a local dog club trainer and a keen competitor.

Elliot Rich – Sales Director

Elliot joined James Heal in January 1999. A Management Science graduate from UMIST University in Manchester, Elliot brought a wealth of knowledge and experience from his employment with blue chip companies such as Unilever and United Biscuits. During the last 13 years, Elliot has been responsible for driving success forward with our Service & Calibration division and heading up the Sales and Marketing activities - an area which has gone from strength to strength under his leadership in the last 10 years. Elliot plays a lead role in the organisation and management of key trade shows and events, most notably, the well known  'ITMA' exhibitions which occur every two years in Asia and every four years in Europe.

Neil Pryke – Engineering Director

Neil joined the Company in 1997 as a Senior Mechanical Designer. Neil designed the original Titan tensile tester and following that he became Production Manager. In recent years he has been responsible for the regeneration of the production environment, using LEAN manufacturing methods and the very latest software and computer controlled machinery. As Engineering Director, Neil manages our Design, Production and Quality teams and plays a driving role in new product development and new production technologies.

Ann Watson – HR Director

Ann is a Chartered Fellow of the CiPD – Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development. She joined the Company in April 2010, bringing over 20 years’ senior human resource management experience, in companies such as Bowater Home Improvements, British Sugar and Grant Thornton.

At James Heal, Ann provides the link with people management / development and the business strategy.  This enables workforce considerations to play an important part in business planning. Recent achievements include a massive recruitment drive, helping to bring new skills into the business across all functions.  

Mark Davison - Service and Calibration Manager

Mark joined James Heal in summer 2010 as Service & Calibration Manager, responsible for running our Service & Calibration division. Mark started his career as an apprentice-trained engineer, and now has over 20 years’ experience in various leadership roles in a variety of sectors including automotive and FMCG. A keen scholar, he is currently in the last year of a three-year Msc degree at the University of Leeds Business School where he is reading Leadership and Management. At work he is passionate about innovation and continuous improvement, and is looking at ways to further improve customer service and technical support within his division.

Peter Goodwin - Technical Manager

Peter Goodwin is a textile technologist with over 30 years’ experience, having read Textile Technology & Management at the University of Bolton and worked as Technical Manager at Alexander Drew for 17 years. Peter is currently Technical Manager at James Heal, where he has worked since August 2005 and his credentials include a BSc (Hons) Textile Technology and Management, a CCol ASDC, and a HNC in Textile Coloration. Recently, Peter has been responsible for developing new innovative software for our instruments.  He sits on various technical committees at BSI including TCI/24 - physical testing, TCI/66 - apparel and interior textiles (including flammability), TCI/69 – leather and coated fabrics, TCI/81 - colour fastness and TCI/82 - washing and drying.

Lisa Earnshaw - Business Development Manager

Lisa joined the Company in 2003. She attended the University of Huddersfield studying Textile Technology. With more than 25 years’ experience in Textile Manufacturing. Lisa has worked as the Group Quality Assurance Manager for Parkland (an M&S woven & piece dyed supplier), and Process Improvement Manager for Milliken (World’s largest privately owned Textile Company). At James Heal, Lisa combines her responsibilities as an International Sales Manager with a business development brief, researching new types of business/ products and services with an emphasis on identifying gaps, attracting new customers and penetrating new and existing markets.

Simon Dakin - International Sales Manager

Simon joined James Heal in 2006, as an International Sales Manager. He began working in the Textile Industry over 20 years ago for a company manufacturing textile based products for the aviation industry. He then progressed to the Howe and Coates group of companies where he established an ISO 9002 Quality System complete with in-house laboratory for testing to Ministry of Defence standards and workwear fabrics to physical and colour fastness specifications. Simon has successfully completed an HNC in Textiles at Bolton Institute and progressed to complete the Modular Msc degree in Textiles.