Vertical Aerospace Group Ltd. - Governance

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Founder and Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Fitzpatrick is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Vertical Aerospace and serves as a member of the board of directors. Prior to founding the company, Mr. Fitzpatrick founded OVO Group Ltd., a leading energy supply group that includes Europe’s largest independent energy retailer, and has served as the Group Chief Executive Officer of OVO Group Ltd. since 2008. Mr. Fitzpatrick sits on the board of directors for a number of privately held companies, including Imagination Industries Incubator Limited and Imagination Industries Aero Ltd. Mr. Fitzpatrick holds a Master’s degree in Business and Finance from the University of Edinburgh.

Michael Cervenka, Chief Technology Officer

Michael Cervenka is Chief Technology Officer of Vertical Aerospace, having joined the company in June 2019. Prior to joining Vertical, from September 2015 to June 2019, Mr. Cervenka served as the Head of Future Business Technologies at Rolls-Royce, a leading aerospace and defense company. Mr. Cervenka also served in a number of different roles at Rolls-Royce, including as Program Lead (Civil Large Engine Cost Transformation Program) from March 2014 to August 2018 and Chief Development Engineer (Civil Large Fleet Engines) from November 2010 to February 2014. Mr. Cervenka has over 20 years of civil and military aerospace experience at Rolls-Royce. Mr. Cervenka participated in the Executive Leadership Program at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth from 2018 to 2019. Mr. Cervenka also holds a Bachelor of Engineering (First Honors) in Aeronautical Engineering from Bristol University. Mr. Cervenka is a Chartered Engineer, a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and Member of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers.

Eduardo Dominguez Puerta, Chief Operating Officer

Eduardo Dominguez Puerta joined Vertical Aerospace as Chief Commercial Officer in May 2021. Previously, he served as CEO of Airbus Urban Air Mobility division, created in 2018, where he led all eVTOL related efforts, including technologies, air traffic management, infrastructure, and regulatory activities. Eduardo was instrumental in setting up operations of A3, in Silicon Valley, where he served as Chief Operating Officer. Whilst he was at Airbus, he held various operational executive positions including overseeing Supplier Development, Lean Management, and New Business Strategy. He received a Master’s Degree in Industrial Engineering from Universidad Pontificia de Comillas in Spain in 2002.

Andrew Macmillan, Chief Strategy Officer

Mr. Macmillan is Chief Strategy Officer of Vertical Aerospace and joined the company in September 2021. He leads the development of an ecosystem of partners to launch and grow the eVTOL operations of Vertical’s customers around the world. Before Vertical Mr. Macmillan was Chief Carbon and Strategy Officer at Heathrow Airport and worked in various regulatory, planning, operational and commercial roles at the airport for over a decade. He worked with McKinsey and Company in London and Tokyo on infrastructure and transport in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. He has an MBA from INSEAD and degrees from the London School of Economics and Hitotsubashi University.

David King, Chief Engineer

Mr King has served as our Chief Engineer since February 2023. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. King spent thirty years in senior roles at Leonardo, Bell and Boeing. Mr. King’s last role at Leonardo was as Chief Engineer on the AW609, set to be the first new category aircraft to be certified in over 50 years. Mr. King was also Chief Engineer at Bell and launched its commercial helicopter design and certification project, the Bell 525. Mr. King holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Lehigh University and a Master of Science in Aeronautics & Astronautics from MIT.

Stuart Simpson, Chief Financial Officer

Stuart Simpson, joined Vertical Aerospace in September 2023. Previously, he served as Group CFO of Avast, a FTSE 100 company, before and during its merger with NortonLifeLock. Stuart previously held the roles of Interim CEO, CFO and COO at Royal Mail, also a FTSE 100 company. Prior to this, Stuart had a long history in the automotive industry, working for General Motors and Rolls Royce and Bentley Motor Car Company.

Executive Management