Mr Burnett has more than 30 years of experience in the chemicals, fuels and lubricants sectors, having previously served in management positions at global businesses including Texaco and Chevron.

Mr Burnett’s experience, where he oversaw sales and marketing activities for speciality products across the EMEA region, gave him the ideal industry insight for his current position at Shrieve.

Shrieve’s speciality products division was established following the acquisition of Chevron’s Zerol and Progline lubricants business in the late 1980s, and this subsequently led to the establishment of its UK operation in 1999.

Shrieve has since developed these brands into a portfolio of specialities. These include air-conditioning & refrigeration compressor lubricants, performance fluids such as foam inhibitors for use in food processing and oilfield chemicals, including environmentally friendly synthetic base fluids for both on and offshore applications.

This position has been achieved through significant investment in people, technology and chemistries, with Shrieve now employing a world-class team of synthetic chemistry experts and application engineers.

With a new manager at the helm, Shrieve plans to bring its brand of chemistry knowledge and specialist application insight to more businesses across the EMEA and APAC regions. The company provides an ever-increasing portfolio of high-performance solutions, focussing on customer need.

Shrieve’s wide range of applicational capability is testament to the company’s expertise in chemical technology. This allows its team to develop specialised solutions based on synthetic molecules, which include polyalkylene glycol (PAG).

Mr Burnett explained: “Over the past three decades, Shrieve has established itself as an expert in speciality lubricants and performance fluids. From our technology centres in the US and China, we work closely with industry to formulate products that meet or exceed specific challenges posed from the development of new, more sustainable technologies.

“This chemical excellence is precisely what industry needs. One example is in the automotive segment with Mobile Air Conditioning (MAC) systems. The industry has moved towards hydrofluoro-olefin (HFO) refrigerants to minimise impact to the environment. However, there is a challenge in the suitable lubrication of MAC’s in vehicles employing the refrigerant R1234yf and the market is being offered a limited number of PAG lubricants which are promoted as suitable for use in these systems.

“Taking this challenge a step further, the growth of the hybrid/electric vehicle market has added an additional layer of complexity to PAG lubricant formulation, as polyol ester (POE) lubricants have traditionally been the preferred choice in these systems.

“Shrieve’s technology team has addressed this issue through the development of Zerol HD, a sophisticated PAG molecule that exceeds the minimum electrical resistivity requirements of these systems and provides superior lubrication, coupled with improved long-term system stability. The development of Zerol HD with optimised electrical properties effectively makes this lubricant a viable, and in fact preferable, choice for use in both traditional belt and hybrid/electric MAC systems.

“As general manager, I want Shrieve to share its knowledge and provide reasoned, provable solutions to give industry the confidence to use the right product, in the right application. For many industrial applications, better chemistry means better performance, and that’s exactly where we want to add value to our customers and industry.”