Jesper was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Dechra on 10 June 2024.

Jesper has held various positions in Colgate-Palmolive since 2005, including Vice President for Global Marketing and Innovation and most recently his appointment as President for North America. Jesper was previously President of Hill’s Pet Nutrition between 2019 and 2022, where he led extraordinary growth while driving Hill’s digital transformation. Prior to that role, he served as Vice President & General Manager of Hill’s U.S.  Jesper joined Colgate’s Nordic Group in 1997 as an assistant brand manager and progressed through a series of marketing and innovation roles across Europe before becoming Worldwide Director, Global Marketing & Innovation, in 2013.

Jesper holds a degree in Business Administration from Copenhagen Business School and attended the Tusk School of Business at Dartmouth University.

Jesper is located in Northwich, UK and the USA.

Paul joined Dechra in January 2010 as the Group Financial Controller, he then spent five years as the European Finance Director before being appointed Chief Financial Officer on 30 October 2019. 

Paul is a Chartered Certified Accountant. He spent five years post qualification at KPMG, during which time he was part of the team which advised the Group on its acquisition of VetXX in 2008.  Paul is responsible for Health and Safety and ESG matters.

Paul is located in Northwich, UK.

Melanie joined Dechra in January 2010 as the Assistant Company Secretary, and was promoted to Deputy Company Secretary in May 2015, and Company Secretary in July 2017. Prior to joining Dechra, she has gained over 25 years’ experience in various company secretarial roles including at GKN plc, TRW Automotive Inc and Pendragon PLC. Melanie is a Fellow of the Chartered Governance Institute. Melanie is responsible for the Company Secretarial, Compliance and Legal team.

Melanie is located at Head Office in Northwich, UK.

Giles joined Dechra in January 1999 as sales and marketing manager for Arnolds Veterinary Products, having previously spent 14 years primarily involved in dairy farming business consultancy. During his time at Dechra he has been responsible for the launch and market development of a number of our key brands, including Vetoryl. Giles has also been an integral member of the teams that ensured fast and smooth integrations of several of our acquisitions, and in particular as lead in the integration of Apex in 2016 and Venco in 2019. 

In his role of Dechra Veterinary Products International Group Director, his responsibilities are extremely varied and involve managing and growing our existing business through APAC and South American business and distribution partners, as well as further developing our Dechra International strategy through product registrations and market development. Giles has a BSc degree in Agricultural Technology.

Giles is located in Sansaw, UK.

Milton was appointed as Group Manufacturing & Supply Director on 1 April 2021, following 11 months as Interim Group Manufacturing & Supply Director. He joined Dechra in January 2016 as Group Manufacturing Finance Director. In February 2019, he was the Interim Site Director at our Skipton Facility until being appointed as Group Supply Chain and Procurement Director, Dechra Pharmaceuticals Manufacturing & Supply in October 2019.

Before joining Dechra, Milton had senior financial roles in different manufacturing industries including coatings, adhesives and chemicals. Just prior to joining Dechra he worked for Aramark in the food and facilities services sector.

Milton is responsible for our internal sites in Europe and USA, and external manufacturing sites globally. 

Milton is located at Head Office in Northwich, UK.

Katy joined Dechra in April 2014 from AppSense Ltd where she was the Vice President of HR Europe and Rest of the World. With over 15 years’ experience operating at Director level within Software, Health, Travel and Finance industries, Katy brings with her a wealth of HR expertise gained in both blue chip corporates and smaller entrepreneurial companies. She has strong international, leadership and M&A experience and has taken responsibility for driving the global people agenda for the Dechra Group.

Katy is located at Head Office, Northwich, UK.

Jamie joined Dechra in June 2022 as Chief Information Officer. Prior to joining, he held the same role for Scapa plc, a global healthcare and industrial products group and has gained over 25 years’ experience in various IT leadership roles in large scale pharmaceutical & medical device organisations including Smith & Nephew and AstraZeneca. 

Jamie leads the global IT team and is responsible for IT Strategy development and execution, including all IT change & innovation activity as well as core IT service provision. He has an MBA from Durham University and a BSc (Hons) degree in Business & IT from Northumbria University.

He is located at Head Office, Northwich, UK.

Laura was appointed as President, North America for Dechra on 9 September 2024.

In 2023, Laura established her own company, Laura Olsen Coaching and Consulting, where she served as a trusted partner and executive coach to a broad range of clients.

Prior to that, Laura held various at Zoetis since 2011, including Vice President of Marketing and most recently, Senior Vice President for Petcare. In this role, she led the Petcare business in the United States while consistently delivering double-digit, above-market revenue growth. Prior to this, Laura was the Brand Manager, Primary Care Portfolio & Innovation Marketing Team at Pfizer Pharmaceutical Corporation, where she drove the launch of Pfizer’s customer-focused closed-loop marketing model company-wide.

Laura holds a Bachelor of Science in International Affairs, International Politics, and Economics Concentration from the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University.

Laura is located in in the USA.

Roddy joined Dechra in 2020 as Country Manager for the UK and Republic of Ireland before being appointed as Managing Director for Europe in December 2023.

Roddy has extensive knowledge of the animal health industry through various commercial positions in the pharmaceutical industry and as a veterinarian. Prior to joining Dechra, Roddy held the position of Managing Director at Nettex, an Animal Health and Wellness/Performance specialist and multiple positions at Merial (Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health) over 11 years, including the Head of Pets Business for UK and ROI.

Prior to working in the pharmceutical industry, Roddy worked as a veterinary surgeon for over 10 years and was the founder of XLVets Ltd. 

Roddy is located in Sansaw, UK

Dr Catherine Knupp is the Interim Chief Scientific Officer.

Catherine has over 35 years’ experience in the animal and human health pharmaceutical industries. Catherine joined Pfizer Animal Health in 2005 as the Vice President of Veterinary Medicine Research and Development. In 2013, when Zoetis was created through an initial public offering, she became a member of the executive team as the President of R&D. Catherine retired from Zoetis in 2022. She was a recipient of the inaugural Feather in Her Cap Award in 2018, recognizing women who have made major contributions to the animal health industry.

Catherine served as a Vice President in Pfizer Global Research and Development, from 2001 through 2005, supporting the discovery and development of therapeutics in human health. From 1987 through 2001, she held roles of increasing responsibility at Bristol-Myers Squibb, including Vice President of Regulatory Affairs.

Catherine received her DVM from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a MS in Veterinary Medicine and Toxicology from the same school. Catherine also holds a BS in Chemistry. 

Catherine is located in the USA.

Juergen Horn joined Dechra in September 2024, as part of the acquisition of Invetx, Inc. Juergen is the President of Invetx, Inc. by Dechra, a pioneer in protein-based therapeutics for animal health.

Juergen was the founder and CEO of Invetx, Inc and previously held the position of Chief Product Development Officer at Nexvet Biopharma and the position of Senior Director of Global Innovation Strategy at Elanco. 

Prior to that, Juergen held various positions at Novartis Animal Health, Inc. since 2001, including Head of Global Pharmaceutical Development and Head of International Project Management & Drug Efficacy. In this role, Juergen led the global development organisation of the business to bring innovative new products to the animal health market.

Juergen is a veterinarian and holds a PhD from the University of London as well as a combined executive MBA from the Columbia and London Business Schools.

Juergen is located in the USA.