Dr Stella Peace

Stella Peace is a Non-Executive Director and senior leader in science-led innovation, with extensive experience across advanced manufacturing, life sciences and the public sector. She brings particular expertise in governance, scaling technology-led businesses, and operating within complex, regulated environments.

She has held senior leadership roles at Unilever and Nomad Foods, where she led the translation of R&D into commercially successful products and industrial processes, and contributed to the development of resilient global supply chains.

Most recently, Stella served as Managing Director at Innovate UK, where she oversaw major national investment programmes across life sciences, health technologies and biologics manufacturing, alongside broader industrial and technology portfolios. Her role involved strategic oversight of innovation funding, partnership with industry and government, and support for high-growth sectors critical to the UK economy.

Stella brings deep insight into sustainability, health and future food systems—areas where science-led innovation, patient capital and strong governance are essential to long-term value creation. She is particularly interested in the role of boards in guiding responsible innovation and aligning commercial success with societal impact. She holds a degree in Chemistry and a PhD in polymer science.

The Board appointment of Stella Peace is made by Innovate UK in collaboration with HVM Catapult. It is standard practice for an Innovate UK representative to sit on the Board.