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Experience

Evidence of execution

A single view of execution — the clients, the selected outcomes, and the 25+ year career behind them.

Clients

Board advisory and consulting across leading brands

Board advisory and specific consulting projects of varying length and complexity across consumer, industrial and deep-tech sectors.

  • Board advisoryBouncepad — Board advisory
  • Board advisoryFWIP — Board advisory
  • Board advisoryIONATE — Board advisory
  • Board advisoryAlert Me — Board advisory
  • ConsultingApple — Consulting
  • ConsultingBMW — Consulting
  • ConsultingNike — Consulting
  • ConsultingFlex — Consulting
  • ConsultingABB — Consulting
  • ConsultingNest — Consulting
  • ConsultingQualcomm — Consulting
  • ConsultingXYZ Reality — Consulting

Selected outcomes

Four anonymised examples of the work

Client names, products and commercial details are withheld where confidentiality applies. Only outcomes that can be stated accurately are stated.

  • Case study 01 Industrialisation

    From product development to manufacturing readiness

    Anonymised case study

    Situation
    An engineering-led business had a product that performed in prototype but no credible route to repeatable manufacture. Documentation was incomplete, test coverage was informal and no single owner held launch readiness.
    Intervention
    Established a staged industrialisation plan with evidence-based gates covering EVT, DVT and PVT. Applied design for manufacture and design for test before tooling was committed, built the manufacturing documentation and configuration-control set, and led the transfer to the manufacturing partner with quality and test defined as part of the same plan.
    Outcome
    The product moved into controlled manufacture with defined acceptance criteria, a documented build standard and an accountable owner for release. Manufacturing partners could build to specification without repeated engineering intervention.
  • Case study 02 Operating systems

    Rebuilding operational control in a scaling technology business

    Anonymised case study

    Situation
    Rapid growth had outpaced processes, systems and controls. Planning was manual, data was inconsistent between functions, and leadership could not reliably explain cost or delivery variance.
    Intervention
    Defined the operating model and decision rights, then implemented the systems and cadence to support it: an ERP/MRP capability aligned to how the business actually plans, a sales and operations planning rhythm, configuration and change control, and a KPI set with agreed definitions and owners.
    Outcome
    The leadership team gained a single, trusted view of demand, supply, cost and delivery, with a management rhythm that surfaced problems early. Operational roadmaps covering people, systems, supply chain, manufacturing, quality, service and governance were established and owned internally.
  • Case study 03 Supply chain

    Global manufacturing and supply-chain model

    Anonymised case study

    Situation
    A growing product portfolio was constrained by a manufacturing and sourcing model that would not scale, with concentration risk and limited commercial leverage.
    Intervention
    Set the CEM and OEM strategy against capability, volume fit, regulatory experience and long-term leverage rather than headline unit price. Selected and managed global contract manufacturing, supplier and 3PL networks, built the capacity, inventory and logistics model to match demand, and put structured supplier performance reviews in place.
    Outcome
    Operations were built and transferred for more than 50 product families across a partner base that included six of the world's top ten contract manufacturers, with sourcing risk, cost visibility and supplier accountability actively managed.
  • Case study 04 Quality & reliability

    Quality, reliability and warranty improvement

    Anonymised case study

    Situation
    Field failures were driving warranty cost and eroding customer confidence, with slow feedback from service back into design, process and supplier management.
    Intervention
    Connected product, process and field data into a single closed loop: strengthened design and process controls, tightened supplier and incoming quality requirements, improved test coverage at the points where failures were escaping, and established a review cadence that turned field evidence into corrective action on the current build.
    Outcome
    Warranty failures and associated cost were reduced by more than 20% through better product, process and feedback controls, with the improvement sustained by the controls and ownership left in place.

Career history

Roles and stages across 25+ years

  • Equivital (Hidalgo Ltd)

    Chief Operating Officer

    2023 – Present

    Recovery and scale-up of an AI-enabled connected health-monitoring business. Led product, engineering, operations, quality, regulatory and manufacturing.

  • IONATE

    Fractional COO

    2026 – Present

    Advisory engagement preparing a deep-tech power-systems business for Series B investment and commercial scale.

  • Indra Renewable Technologies

    Interim COO

    2022 – 2023

    Stabilised and transformed an EV-charging operations function; supported a £20m Series B raise.

  • Fwip

    VP Global Operations

    2021 – 2022

    Built European logistics and service infrastructure; scaled the service network from 8 to over 120 engineers.

  • XYZ Reality

    VP Global Operations

    2021

    Professionalised operations and product development; supported a £20m Series A funding round.

  • Education First

    VP Operations & Technology

    2019 – 2021

    Led global engineering and manufacturing for connected consumer education hardware; contributed to a £1.5bn PE investment in EF China technology.

  • ROLI

    VP Global Operations

    2015 – 2019

    Built global CEM and supply network; scaled revenue from £0.5m to £30m and supported £40m+ Series B and C rounds.

  • Nujira Ltd (acquired by Qualcomm)

    VP Operations and Quality

    2006 – 2015

    Built operations supporting 100m+ RF units annually; supported venture rounds totalling ~$100m prior to acquisition.

  • Splashpower

    Operations and Quality Manager

    2004 – 2006

    Supported £30m VC funding through operational and quality readiness; established global supply chain.

  • ABB Ltd

    Engineering and Quality roles

    1997 – 2004

    Progressed through engineering and quality roles in industrial automation and power infrastructure.

In their words

What leaders say about working with Dr Gareth Mills

I worked with Gareth on a number of operational and manufacturing initiatives at Flex, including Industry 4.0, manufacturing technology, process improvement and leadership development.

Gareth combines deep operational experience with a strong understanding of emerging manufacturing and management practices. He is particularly effective at translating new technologies and operational theory into practical improvements that can be implemented within real manufacturing environments.

He is equally comfortable working with senior leadership, engineering teams and operational functions, and brings a valuable independent perspective when addressing complex technical, process and organisational challenges.

I would recommend Gareth to organisations looking to improve operational performance, develop their manufacturing strategy or build stronger operational capability.

Mike Dennison

Former President, Consumer Technologies Group, Flex

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