Who we are

We believe the future is only limited by the extent of our imagination.

Inocea is a leading international marine, defence and industrial group delivering mission critical solutions that positively impact the world by protecting national and economic security, fulfilling acute business needs, and preserving our precious environment. We own and operate companies, facilities and assets which are critical to our clients’ missions.

Founders

Alex Vicefield

Alex Vicefield is the Chairman and CEO of Inocea Group. He has spent his career in the Marine, Defence and Oil & Gas industries, specializing in project, investment and asset management. He has been instrumental in a series of major fleet, single vessel and business acquisition, construction and operation projects in Europe, Asia and the Americas. Throughout his career he has served in various roles and directorships in private and public companies involved with ship owning, ship construction and operations as well as port and ship management. The early part of his career was spent structuring and managing investment projects and funds in different marine asset classes, together with major financial institutions in the US and Europe.   

James Davies

James Davies is the President, CFO and founding partner of Inocea Group. He is also the President and CEO of Davie Shipbuilding, an Inocea Group company. He has spent the majority of his career structuring, financing and executing strategy all the way down to the operating level, in different marine asset classes. Prior to founding Inocea, James was Chief Executive Officer of a maritime-focused investment advisory company in London. He has also served as Finance Director for a private investor group with significant maritime holdings, as well as a specialist finance company focused on the purchase and securitization of sovereign debt. James is a qualified accountant and holds a Bachelor in Accounting and Finance.

Executive Management

Alex Vicefield

Alex Vicefield is the Chairman and CEO of Inocea Group. He has spent his career in the Marine, Defence and Oil & Gas industries, specializing in project, investment and asset management. He has been instrumental in a series of major fleet, single vessel and business acquisition, construction and operation projects in Europe, Asia and the Americas. Throughout his career he has served in various roles and directorships in private and public companies involved with ship owning, ship construction and operations as well as port and ship management. The early part of his career was spent structuring and managing investment projects and funds in different marine asset classes, together with major financial institutions in the US and Europe.   

James Davies

James Davies is the President, CFO and founding partner of Inocea Group. He is also the President and CEO of Davie Shipbuilding, an Inocea Group company. He has spent the majority of his career structuring, financing and executing strategy all the way down to the operating level, in different marine asset classes. Prior to founding Inocea, James was Chief Executive Officer of a maritime-focused investment advisory company in London. He has also served as Finance Director for a private investor group with significant maritime holdings, as well as a specialist finance company focused on the purchase and securitization of sovereign debt. James is a qualified accountant and holds a Bachelor in Accounting and Finance.

Maria Patterson

Maria Patterson joined the Inocea Group as COO in July 2019.  Before joining Inocea, Ms Patterson was an advisor to the Inocea founders since 2011. She has more than 25 years of experience in international finance, corporate governance and corporate management. In her career, Ms Patterson has managed teams across multiple jurisdictions and worked with leading finance industry professionals worldwide. She is a director on the Boards of Inocea Group companies and oversees the administration of the group’s international entities.
Ms Patterson holds a Diploma in Business Studies from University College Dublin, Ireland and is a fully qualified International Trust and Estate Practitioner.

Paul Barrett

Paul Barrett is Inocea’s Chief Communications Officer (CCO) responsible for our reputation and key relationships. He has 25+ years of experience in government and public affairs, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), media engagement and crisis management for global companies in multiple industries, from shipping to life sciences. An expert corporate and financial communicator, Mr Barrett has positioned M&A, North American and European stock market listings, divestments and innovation acquisition worth over US$100 billion. He was, for example, Head of Communications for Europe’s largest-ever corporate spin-off – the US$31bn split of the Alcon eye care division from global top-2 pharmaceuticals company, Novartis. He began his career with the BBC World Service in London and has since worked and lived all over the world, including 12 years in Asia. He has also led multi-country teams across Europe, North America, the Middle East and Africa. In the maritime space, Mr Barrett led external affairs for global shipping, terminals and logistics group, Neptune Orient Lines. He was also Hong Kong Correspondent for Lloyd’s List, a newspaper which has provided shipping news since 1734. During his career, Mr Barrett has managed many high-profile, media-intensive international issues and crises, including government investigations, terrorism, cyber-attacks, work safety, data security, industrial/environmental incidents, product recalls, white-collar crime and activist protests. He holds a Bachelor degree in Media & Journalism from the University of Westminster and has completed executive education programs at INSEAD, IMD and the Michigan Ross School of Business.

Board of Directors

Corporate Governance

The Group’s governance structure includes accountability to key stakeholders as well as policies and management systems that contribute to efficient and effective operations. Our corporate governance commitment is integral to how we run our businesses. Based on the UK Corporate Governance Code, our Corporate Governance Framework reflects regulatory requirements, industry best governance practices and the committed leadership of our senior management teams and Boards of Directors. We ensure our corporate governance goes beyond compliance and it is fundamental to achieving our vision. It is underpinned by our Group’s values, which help define the fair and respectful treatment of our people, suppliers and partners, as well as expectations of how they must conduct themselves on behalf of group companies. In addition to providing general oversight, the Boards of our group companies review and approve major corporate actions, assess and manage risk, engage in crisis management and support succession planning for senior leaders, amongst other duties.

Strategy

Core Business

Inocea will continue to focus on its core business of acquiring, creating, investing in and operating companies which deliver innovative, mission-critical products and services in the marine, defence and energy industries. Where applicable, we will also seek to leverage our companies’ assets, expertise and capabilities to provide products and services to other markets.

Through effective project selection and strong corporate governance, Inocea’s overriding objective is to enhance the longevity and longterm value of our businesses and our client’s businesses and to develop and maximize the potential of our employees across group companies.

We believe that the efficient management of large-scale industrial programs can only be achieved through an integrated, multi-disciplined approach. Applying the commercial, financial and technical expertise within Inocea, we guide, support and direct the leadership of our group companies to success. Businesses and the projects they manage are successful by design, not by chance and at Inocea, our role is to lead and support those businesses.

Non-Core Business

From time to time, Inocea will invest in, acquire and create businesses which are not core to its primary businesses. The reasons for investing in, owning and operating non-core businesses ranges from sheer entrepreneurial value creation to vertical integration to the development of innovative products and services which can be of benefit to clients of our core businesses.

Inocea applies the same values throughout our group companies

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