Thomas Swan & Co. has completed a joint venture transaction in large-scale graphene production with Canadian-based graphite firm Mason Graphite. Black Swan Graphene (BSG) will be based in Québec, Canada, and will seek to penetrate industrial markets with low-cost graphene. CEO Harry Swan and Michael Edwards, business director for the Advanced Materials division, will join the BSG board.

Johnson Matthey, Thomas Swan and the UK’s Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) have teamed up in the ICE-Batt project. This seeks how to optimise battery technology by using innovative forms of carbon to overcome some of the limitations of lithium-ion batteries, including energy density, power density and low temperature performance.

Harry Swan, CEO of Thomas Swan, describes the company’s approach to navigating the new post-Brexit rules and offers advice to other firms

Thomas Swan is an independent, family-run chemicals manufacturer that is based in County Durham, UK. I am the great-grandson of the founder and became CEO in 2006. The company dates back to 1926, so you might expect it to be experienced in handling change. Adapting to the UK’s new free trade deal with the EU is another challenge we have met head-on and we are confident of competing successfully in a global market.