Meet the Loowatt Team
UK | MADAGASCAR
Virginia Gardiner
CEO
Virginia is the original inventor of Loowatt toilet system. Prior to starting Loowatt in 2010, she spent 7 years working with award-winning product and design companies including Dwell Magazine, and wrote for publications including Metropolis and The New York Times. Virginia holds a joint Masters in Innovation Design Engineering from the Royal College of Arts and Imperial College London and a BA from Stanford University in Comparative Literature. |
Sophie Wright
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
management accountant and a licenced CIMA member in practice, with nearly 20 years' experience across marketing companies, digital and wholesale industries. She specialises in working with SMEs, with revenue between £1M and £20M. Sophie works part-time for Loowatt (10-20%), supporting Kristina Dalton, our in-house Management Accountant. |
Mark Bickerstaffe
CHIEF TECHNICAL OFFICER
Directing Loowatt’s design and engineering teams and technology strategy. Mark forged research design and development leadership capability in the first 10 years of Dyson, inventive pioneers of the domestic appliance industry, followed by 15 years at Kohler Co. driving the design-led corporate culture of the leading global Kitchen & Bath company. |
Bradely Godbold
CustoMER SUCCESS MANAGER
First joining as a Design engineer in 2018 through Loowatt's placements scheme, Bradley went on to complete his degree BA Industrial Design and Technology from Brunel University London, re-joining the team in 2019. Bradley's experience ranges from research and development of waterless flush toilets, to providing strategic and operational implementation support to new emerging markets project stakeholders. |
Martin Carter
HEAD OF DELIVERY
With a history of embedding foundations for scalable production, Martin is focused on optimising Loowatt’s supply and production processes. Drawing on a breadth of experience from both start-up and large companies Martin developed his holistic business exposure to Director level. Martin attended Loughborough University where he obtained a Bachelors in Materials Engineering. |
Iain Purves
HEAD OF RESOURCE RECOVERY
Iain has been a key member of the Loowatt team in 2010, beginning with developing Loowatt’s UK and Madagascar digestion systems. Iain is based in Margate since 2017, but continues to lead innovations in the Resource Recovery team on polymer film separation and waste processing, and the delivery of machinery in the UK and Madagascar including in Adam Harvey-Cook
Lead ENGINEER
Adam is responsible for the design and development of both existing and new products for Loowatt's range of toilets. Adam studied Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College and has built up a depth of practical knowledge over several years designing mechanical and electro-mechanical products across a range of industries. |
Kristina Dalton
MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTANT
MAAT qualified, with twenty years accounts experience, across blue chip companies and an SME, with a particular interest in accounts for strategy reporting and development. Kristina has worked at De Beers and the Co-operative Bank, she joined Loowatt in 2019. She is the day to day finance person for reporting, Company Secretarial and HR functions. BA English Literature, Lancaster University. Georges Mikhael
Commercial director
With a focus on driving growth, Georges is leading Loowatt's commercial team. He has been supporting the design and scale up of innovative sanitation businesses internationally since 2010. Ben Smeaton-Russell
lead design Engineer
Ben is a passionate sanitation specialist, with expert knowledge of urban and container-based sanitation and processing equipment. A mechanical engineer with 10 years of design, research, and practical experience. Six years designing and managing the installations of large-scale heat and power systems and energy generation, then pivoting to WaSH after completing a second master’s in Water, Sanitation and Health Engineering at the University of Leeds. |
