Allan M Laing
Chief Executive Pentagon Chemicals (Holdings) Ltd
Allan Laing graduated with an honours degree in Chemical Engineering from Strathclyde University in 1975. He joined ICI working in production management on the large commodity plants and enjoyed a 2-year assignment to an ethylene plant in the USA in 1983. He returned to the UK in 1985 to senior management roles in ICI’s chemical intermediates and polymers businesses. He joined specialties company MTM in 1989 rising to General Manager of the Agrochemicals Division in 1992. He left the chemical sector for 2 years in 1993/4 to work in the food industry.
Allan returned to chemicals in early 1995 as Managing Director of Pentagon Chemicals* leading company through strategic changes and a successful merger with Chemoxy International to form Haltermann UK within Ascot plc where he continued as Managing Director.
Following the acquisition of Ascot in July 2001 by Dow Chemical, he left the group to lead a MBO of the Pentagon business which was completed in May 2002. Led the acquisition of the UK Fine Chemicals business from Great Lakes in December 2003. The business required major restructuring in 2006 and is now an established successful independent business.
Following the Texas City and Buncefield incidents, Pentagon has become a leading player in the CIA Process Safety Management leadership initiatives. Allan is also a member of the European Fine Chemicals Group Board within CEFIC and is Chairman of the Agrochemical & Intermediates Manufacturers Europe. He is currently chairman of the National Skills Academy (North West group) for the Process Industries sector.
Allan is married with two grown up children and has lived in Cheshire for 20 years.
* Pentagon’s independent specialties and fine chemicals business employs 170 people at Workington and Halebank with the core technologies of phosgenation, Grignards, sodium dispersion, bromination, chlorination, Vilsmeier and maleic anhydride chemistry. Current annual sales are GBP40m in support of the industrial and life-science markets.
