Abcam appoints Alan Hirzel as chief executive officer

Abcam has appointed Alan Hirzel as its new chief executive officer, taking over from co-founder Jonathan Milner.

Over the past year he has held the position of chief marketing officer at Abcam, a protein research tools and services company. In this role he had responsibility for the company's branding, product portfolio and online consumer offering and worked closely with Milner to develop their strategic vision.

Hirzel said: “I am delighted to be taking on the role of chief executive officer of Abcam at such an exciting point in its growth. I am driven by our mission to help life science researchers discover more and am looking forward to continuing to implement our strategy of driving growth by placing the customer at the heart of the business – a strategy that is already delivering results.”

Milner will continue to play an active role in the company as deputy chairman and remains Abcam's largest shareholder.

He commented: “Whilst I am standing down as chief executive officer, I remain fully committed to this business. I have worked closely with Alan over the last year and he has been inspirational in the evolution of our strategy. 

“Alan has my full confidence and I believe there is no one better to take the company forward on the next phase of our journey.”