As Group CEO, Ashton is responsible for common sense and business-building. An experienced lawyer, arbitrator, entrepreneur, and developer, he spent over 20 years as a commercial lawyer before setting up a renewable energy business with the other founders and later handling the significant value sale of that business. He is now tasked with bringing various global entities, skill sets, and services together and building the Raspberry Global brand. He has extensive experience in international commercial trade, commodities, trade finance, and construction and project matters. He has a talent for resolving disputes before they escalate and is an experienced arbitrator and adjudicator if that does not happen. He has a genuine empathy for people and an ability to simplify any issue into plain English and find simple solutions to often complex issues.
Raouf is our business director for Middle East and Africa operations and a leading expert in renewable energy systems and environmental engineering. A Chemical Engineer with a Masters and PhD in Environmental Engineering from Canada, he is a visiting professor at Cranfield University at the Centre for Renewable Energy Systems. He has more than twenty years of experience developing and leading renewable energy and environmental projects at a national and international level, covering all stages including Terms of Reference, bid evaluation, and contractual arrangements. Raouf has proven leadership in overseeing mega-industrial and environmental projects in North America and the Middle East, and is also a leading expert in phosphate-based fertilisers, minerals mining and processing industries.
Mahendra is a specialist in cargo, logistics and commodities operations throughout the Caribbean and beyond. He is an experienced and licensed ship captain, port manager, project management professional, qualified mechanical engineer, and database development expert. He has experience in commodities, particularly aggregates, petroleum and food, and is actively involved in real estate, project and construction financing and management, marine support, and tug and barge operations. He has an exceptional network of contacts throughout the Caribbean and South America.
Joanna has many years of successfully trading commodities from oil to sesame seeds, with considerable European and African experience and an extensive network of connections. Her location in Gdynia means the export of European food products can easily be accommodated at the local port.