Before joining the MTC as chief executive in January 2011 Clive Hickman had more than 35 years' engineering experience in several roles within the automotive industry, culminating in the position of Head of Engineering for Tata Motors in India.
Born in Dudley in the West Midlands, he gained a first-class honours degree and PhD in mechanical engineering and an MBA.
He was a senior engineer with Rover Group before becoming Engineering and Group Operations Director at the Motor Industry Research Association working on product development. He later joined Ricardo Consulting Engineers where he held a seat on the board of Ricardo Plc and was managing director of Ricardo UK Ltd.
During his career, he has worked on a wide range of vehicle programmes including the development of a unique Bentley which, along with Dr Phaefgan of VW, he presented to the late Queen Elizabeth II in 2002.
In 2005, he was approached by Ratan Tata to set up an engineering function for Tata Motors in the UK and manage the entire engineering operation for Tata Motors in India, responsible for some 6,000 engineers. During this time he was responsible for the "peoples car", the Nano in India and the introduction of the Vista electric vehicle in the UK.
For more than 12 years, he led the MTC through a period of extraordinary growth, helping to create a national asset that has become a magnet for manufacturing across the Midlands.
He was appointed chairman of MTC in April 2023.
