Management Team

Paul Roberts

Zoe Stephens

With nearly 20 years’ experience in HR in organisations such as Amey, Johnson Controls and Rank, Zoe is responsible for the development and implementation of the Group HR Strategy and ensuring the HR team proactively supports and encourages business and employee performance across the whole business, including our operations in the US, Norway and Europe.

Responsible for delivering people related solutions across the entire HR discipline, with the aim of improving and driving employee engagement and commitment for all 800 employees, Zoe leads the Employer of Choice Agenda. Zoe also has significant experience in supporting business development and bidding activities, including tendering and TUPE processes.

During her time with Blatchford, Zoe has focussed on developing our culture – utilising the very best of our 125 year heritage and aligning this to the behaviours and values we strive to demonstrate now and in the future.

Before HR, Zoe trained as a chef and spends her free time cooking for her friends and family, reading and doing voluntary work with young people.

Simon Loyns

Simon joined Blatchford in September 2019 as Operations Director. He is leading the business to our goal of operational excellence and driving continuous improvement, capability and standardisation across the group. Simon is responsible for manufacturing, engineering, quality, customer services and ACS. Simon completed a degree in Naval Architecture, before spending time with Vosper Thorneycroft and BAE Systems. During his time in Wartsila, Simon was responsible for 25 global locations, implementing new operating structures and introducing new technologies, including robotics into locations in the US, China and Europe.

Andy Hollyhead

Andy joined Blatchford in September 2019 as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and is responsible for Finance and IT on a global basis. He started his career with KPMG, before moving to Ernst & Young in their Operational Restructuring team. Andy moved to the Coveris group in 2011, subsequently purchased by Paccor in 2013. He became CFO at Paccor, a global packaging manufacturing business, and now brings a wealth of experience to the company. Andy has significant international, mergers and acquisitions experience, as well as a track record of driving change to deliver value and growth. He also has extensive experience working in a Private Equity environment. Andy is married with 4-year-old twin daughters, who are currently living in Germany with his wife, but they are all hoping to relocate back to the UK in the New Year.

Professor Sir Saeed Zahedi OBE

Professor Saeed Zahedi is the Technical Director of Blatchford and leads the Research and Development team. With over 30 years of experience in prosthetic innovation, Saeed was responsible for the commercialisation of the first Intelligent Prosthesis in the early 1990s and the world’s first fully integrated limb system, Linx, in 2014.

Saeed has held many prestigious positions supporting our industry during his career, including his current position as Vice Chairman of the UK delegation of the International Society of Prosthetics and Orthotics (ISPO), he is the author and presenter of over 125 papers, books and scientific publications and has developed over 30 patents. In 2013, Saeed was appointed a Royal Designer for Industry by the Royal Society of Arts for his innovative solutions in prosthetic product design. He has also received the British Healthcare Trade Association Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to the development of assistive technology for lower limb amputees.

Peter Williamson

Peter is a graduate engineer and has a Master of Business Administration. Between 1993 and 2010 worked in various positions for BTR Automotive, Metzeler, Trelleborg, Xerium Technologies and IBP Group in locations in Europe, USA and Asia. Since 1999 he has worked in businesses owned by private equity with Metzeler belonging to CVC and Xerium Technologies an Apax portfolio business. His final executive position was as Group CEO for IBP Group (a Sun Capital Partner portfolio business) and since then has worked as an operating partner for Better Capital and currently has a portfolio of Non-executive appointments.

Stephen Blatchford

Stephen joined the family business in 1985 after studying at Oxford University, where he obtained a BA in Mathematics and an MSc in Computation. He became the CEO in January 1986 after his father’s death. Since then, Stephen has overseen the Company’s growth from £6m to over £70m turnover by providing innovative products and services for amputees and by entering the broader rehabilitation market. International exports began in 1988 and now account for over 75% of product sales. The service business has also grown substantially and since 2006 includes the prosthetic service at the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre at Headley Court for injured servicemen. In 2014 Stephen spearheaded the team that acquired a majority interest in five Norwegian businesses as part of a new international business expansion plan. In April 2015, Stephen moved into the more strategic role of Executive Chairman.

Stephen has been the Chairman of British Healthcare Trades Association, a non-executive board member of the National Centre for Training and Education in Prosthetics and Orthotics and was an industry champion for the Government’s “Make It In Great Britain” campaign in 2012. Stephen won the IOD Family Director of the Year Category in the Director of the Year Awards for 2013. He is married and has two children.

Ian Moore

Ian joined CBPE in 2011 and is a member of the Investment Committee. He has led several investments for CBPE across a range of sectors.  Ian has a particular focus on the execution of primary buyout transactions, including CBPE’s investments in Blatchford, JTC, Xafinity and Cote Restaurants.

Ian qualified as a chartered accountant with KPMG in 1996, subsequently spending five years in their corporate finance department. Ian then worked at HgCapital for five years prior to joining CBPE. He has a degree in Economics from the University of Southampton.

Naveen Passi

Naveen joined CBPE in 2012.  He has worked on several transactions and has a particular focus on businesses in the healthcare sector, with investments including Blatchford, Medica and SpaMedica.

Naveen started his career at Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, where he spent three years working with both corporate and private equity clients, before moving to Cognetas in London for two years, where he worked on buyouts in the UK mid-market. He holds a degree in Economics and Management from the University of Oxford.

We are very excited to be involved in Blatchford and backing the team as the business embarks on the next phase of its development. There are numerous opportunities open to Blatchford and we look forward to supporting the team in delivering on their growth plans.

Paresh Sidpra

Paresh joined Blatchford in June 2020 as VP International Sales. In this role, he is responsible for European and international sales operations. This includes proactively leading account management for new and existing customers and distributors to identify opportunities for increasing sales and driving long term profitable growth.

Paresh has a degree in Chemical and Process Engineering and has held various technical and commercial roles within global industrial businesses such as Smiths Group and Spirax Sarco. Having lived and worked in Europe and Asia, he has proven experience in leading significant growth by aligning business and customer requirements through organisation change, process improvement and system implementation.

Ben Auzenne

Ben has more than 20 years of leadership and commercial experience in the medical device, pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Ben takes great pride in nurturing high performing talent and developing teams capable of extremely high levels of performance. Most recently, as the US Director of Commercial Operations for the Medtronic Pelvic Health business, Ben was responsible for Commercial Integration, Strategic External Partnerships, Contracting and Pricing Strategy, and Inventory/Supply Chain oversight. 

During his 10 years as a sales leader while at Medtronic, Ben led his teams to multiple President’s Club awards. A hallmark of this success is the ability to create and implement innovative sales strategies while rigorously controlling operating expenses.

Ben has an MBA in Organizational Diagnosis and Change Management from the Regent University School of Global Leadership and Entrepreneurship and a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the College of William and Mary, where he was a six time USA Gymnastics Collegiate All-American Gymnast.

His passion for developing others manifests in support of internal and external leadership programs as a sponsor, mentor and as an executive speaker. His energies are also directed toward the future generation through volunteer work with Junior Achievement. 

Ben and his wife Michelle are the proud parents of two young women.  More than anything else, Ben enjoys spending as much time as possible with family.

Victor Hoff

With 25 years’ experience from the pharmaceutical business; Victor has broad international experience from Norway, Scandinavia, Central Europe, Europe and Global. He has held different commercial roles within both sales and marketing, new business development, external affairs, general management and strategic responsibility within GlaxoSmithKline. Half of his career he has been based outside Norway, in countries like Poland, Slovenia and the UK.

Victor is responsible for executing our vision and strategy together with our colleagues across 6 Blatchford clinics, and 9 satellite clinics in Norway, and our distribution company Ortopro for the Nordic countries (Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland). Together with more than 160 highly skilled and motivated staff, using the latest technology to develop solutions within orthosis, prosthetics and shoes for people in need for better mobility, together we make it possible.

Victor has a Master in Science of Business, and an Executive Master of Management in communication and organisation psychology from the Norwegian Business School, as well as senior international leadership programmes.

Being a typical Norwegian, he enjoys outdoor activities together with friends and family, like hiking, skiing and fly fishing.

Adrian Stenson

Previously responsible for Blatchford’s Clinical Service business and UK and export prosthetic product sales, Adrian is passionate about providing and developing excellent rehabilitation care. Adrian was responsible for negotiating and delivering the first directly commissioned NHS Rehabilitation Service in Leicester, a contract that started in April 2011.

After qualifying in Prosthetics and Orthotics in 1986, Adrian has worked in both the private sector and within the NHS as an Orthotist. He currently represents the Prosthetic and Orthotic sections of the British Healthcare Trades Association (BHTA); chairing the Orthotic section and leading the sub-group on orthotic tariffs. He is a former Treasurer and Executive Committee member of the British Association of Prosthetists and Orthotists (BAPO) and a former Chairman of the Trustees of the Orthotic Education Training Trust. In addition to his clinical qualification, Adrian holds a Diploma in Company Direction and is a Fellow of the Institute of Directors.

Away from work, Adrian is married with two children and enjoys family life, socialising, travel and watching sport.