Executive Management

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.

Mr. Casey has served as Chief Financial Officer of Vertical Aerospace since November 2020 and serves as a member of the board of directors. Mr. Casey has served in a number of roles at OVO Group Ltd., a leading energy supply group that includes Europe’s largest independent energy retailer, and now serves as Chief Investment Officer, which he has done since June 2020. Mr. Casey sits on the board of directors for a number of privately held companies, including Imagination Industries Incubator Limited and Imagination Industries Aero Ltd. Mr. Casey holds a Master of Engineering (First Class Honors) in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Southampton. Mr. Casey is a Chartered Financial Analyst and Chartered Alterative Investment Analyst.

Mr. Cervenka has served as President of Vertical Aerospace since June 2019 and serves as a member of the board of directors. 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 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.

Harry Holt joined Vertical Aerospace in January 2022 and serves as Deputy CEO.  Previously he spent 10 years at Rolls-Royce, the majority of which were spent as a member of the Executive Team, first as President of its Nuclear Business Division and then as Chief People Officer, with additional responsibility for Global Business Services, IT and HS&E.  As Chief People Officer he led a major company-wide global transformation programme, followed by a further deep restructuring in response to the COVID pandemic.  Before Rolls-Royce, Harry had a distinguished career as an Officer in the British Army.  He is a Non-Executive director of the Go Ahead Group plc.

Mr. Samson has served as Head of Engineering for Vertical Aerospace since July 2020. He is responsible for building a world-class Engineering and Design Organisation by implementing Vertical's strategic vision, applying best practices and processes, and ensuring the right skills are in place to design, integrate, test and certify the most technologically advanced, all-electric eVTOL aircraft. Prior to joining Vertical Aerospace, Mr. Samson spent 25 years working for Bell Helicopter and General Dynamics' Aerospace Group in various technical and leadership positions.

Mr. Harper has served as Head of Certification for Vertical Aerospace since November 2017. He started his career at the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency working in air combat analysis and virtual battlespaces before moving to the flight test establishment at Boscombe Down where he worked in the Heavy Aircraft performance section working on the RAF in-service fleet as well as certification of new types like the Nimrod MRA 4 and A400M. Mr. Harper moved to Airbus in 2005 where he spent nine years working in Certification and Airworthiness working for and learning from some of the world’s most experienced Certification experts. Initially working as an Airworthiness and Certification engineer on the Single Aisle Family and then taking over as the UK Chief Airworthiness Engineer for the double decked A380 shortly after its entry to service, Paul subsequently left the Airworthiness Office to become the Head of Engineering for the A321Neo wings – a post he held until joining Vertical Aerospace.