Opportunities in the Hydrogen Economy

Amer Gaffar is Director of Industrial Strategy Partnerships  at Manchester Metropolitan University and a sustainability professional with more than 25 years’ experience in the sector. Amer is a passionate advocate for fuel cell and hydrogen technology and Net Zero innovation which led him to founding the Greater Manchester Hydrogen Partnership in 2013. He has a track record of building multi-million-pound innovation programmes such as the £4.1m funding for the Manchester Fuel Cell Innovation Centre, £6m Greater Manchester Electrochemical Hydrogen Cluster (GMEHC) which is a triple helix partnership between government, industry, SMEs, and academia designed for the acceleration of hydrogen innovation and deployment projects.

As a leading subject matter expert in hydrogen and fuel cell technologies, Amer has given evidence to multiple inquiries for the Department of Net Zero and Security, the House of Lords, the House of Commons, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society on key net zero ambitions for the UK with a focus on the role of Hydrogen and Innovation within the energy transition. Through the development of strong partnerships, Amer has developed one of the leading placed-based programmes for hydrogen innovation in the UK as cited within the joint report by the Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering highlighting Manchester as an exemplar regional model across the UK. In 2024 Amer became a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts Manufacture and Commerce and through recognition of his achievements, Amer was named both Green Leader and Public Sector Leader of the year at the 2025 North West Leadership Awards.

Chris joined Manchester Metropolitan University in 2017, and for the last three years has been the operational lead for the Manchester Fuel Cell Innovation Centre project. Funded by the European Union’s European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the project has supported small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across Greater Manchester to understand and develop new products and services utilising hydrogen and fuel cell technology.

Working within the University’s Business School, Chris has a research interest in SME eco-innovation, and is Manchester Met’s project lead for a new, three-year ERDF low carbon project, Eco-I NW. Working with North West university partners, the project will actively support SMEs to develop low carbon products and services, and iterate circular economy business models.

Neil Simpson has spent more than a decade bringing innovation to businesses, helping them to grow by turning their ideas into money. Based in Liverpool, Neil specialises in ideation, digital marketing and innovation, assisting entrepreneurs to profit from their intellectual property, brand value and in house genius.