Simon Moores

Last updated
Simon Moores
Born19 November 1983
Dudley, UK
EducationKing Alfred’s, Wantage, England
Alma materUniversity of Birmingham
OccupationBusinessman

Simon David Moores is a British businessman and entrepreneur, specializing in the critical minerals, lithium ion battery and electric vehicle (EV) industry.

Contents

He is Founder and CEO of Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, a London-based, IOSCO-assured Price Reporting Agency (PRA) and specialist market intelligence provider for the technologies and supply chains central to the energy transition.

Early Life

Moores was born on 19 November 1983 in Dudley, West Midlands, a town 10 miles west of Birmingham, UK.

At pre-school age, his family relocated to Grove, Oxfordshire, a village located 16 miles south of Oxford, UK and later relocated to nearby Harwell Village.

Between the ages 12 and 21, his part time jobs included a regular paper round for many years in the local village, McDonalds and working in the warehouse fulfilment at Research Machines (RM Plc) on Milton Park.

The latter work at RM helped fund his university degree.

Between 1988 and 1995, Moores attended Grove CE Primary School.

From 1995 to 2002, his secondary school and sixth form college was King Alfred School (now King Alfred’s Academy) in a nearby town of Wantage.

He studied an eclectic mix of Geography, Physics, English Literature, and Computing at A-Level.

Having felt most comfortable with Geography as a subject matter, he joined the University of Birmingham to study Geology with Geography BSc between 2003 and 2006.

This paved the way for his role in the world of critical minerals.

Career

Moores began his career in 2006 at Industrial Minerals. He was named Assistant Editor and three years later he became Deputy Editor, where he worked with non-metallic mineral industries. During his time as Deputy Editor, he was responsible for creating the lithium industry’s first ever annual conference, and he also broke the news that China had blocked rare earth exports to Japan in 2010. [1] [2] [3]

In 2014, Moores established Benchmark Mineral Intelligence - also known as Benchmark - in the aim of setting a new standard of price reporting built upon a robust, independent way of collecting market sensitive information, on the principle that accurate market prices and intelligence are a cornerstone of the energy transition. [4] [5]

Moores founded Benchmark with no prior investment and, almost a decade later, announced that the business accepted its first investment from private equity fund Spectrum Equity in 2023. [6]

As a leading authority figure in the lithium-ion battery and EV industries, Simon Moores advises the highest levels of world governance on the transition towards clean energy. He testified to the US Senate three times, in 2017, [7] 2019 [8] [9] and 2020, [10] where he highlighted the importance of critical mineral supply chains in the energy storage revolution. Moores later testified in front of the Canadian House of Commons in 2021. [11]

Also in 2021, Moores was appointed to the UK Government’s first ever Expert Committee for Critical Minerals. [12] He now sits on government committees in the US and UK.

Moores was invited to present at the 2021 G7 Summit in the UK [13] on building a UK lithium ion economy.

In 2023, Moores was selected to become part of the UK government’s first ever Battery Taskforce by the Department of Business and Trade. [14]

He has further testified to the UK House of Commons in 2023 on the hearing: Batteries for electric vehicle manufacturing inquiry held by the Business and Trade Committee. [15]

Moores has given guest lectures at Oxford University [16] and Stanford University, [17] and introduced the battery and electric vehicle supply chain subject to the UK public at the Royal Institution of Great Britain. [18]

Moores himself and Benchmark data is widely quoted in global media publications including China Daily, Financial Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, The Times, Bloomberg, BBC News, Thomson Reuters, The Economist, and more.

He has also been a contributor to the World Economic Forum. [19]

Awards & Notable Mentions

In 2017, Moores received an honourable mention in Mining Journal’s annual ranking of the most influential people in mining. [20]

It was under Elon Musk of Tesla’s entry that Benchmark’s Moores was mentioned: [21] “Almost as important as Musk in this space are market commentators, Simon Moores of Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, expertly bridging the knowledge gap between miners and the EV supply chain.”

In 2024, Moores and Benchmark were awarded in the category of Best Performing Company by Megabuyte, [22] which monitors UK technology companies.

Moores said of the award: “Awards are not something we would ever consider at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence…That’s why this one was a bit special and out of the blue for us.”

Also in 2024, Benchmark became a recipient of the King's Awards for Enterprise under the category of International Trade [23] from King Charles III and on the recommendation of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Simon Moores will be presented with the award by His Majesty The King’s personal representative, the Lord-Lieutenant, on behalf of the company at Windsor Castle, UK on 9 July 2024.

On the award, Moores described it as "a moment of huge significance…We were founded with no investment in 2014 to become the most valuable business in the world for what we do [24] .”

Moores Racing

Established in 2023, Moores Racing is a professional investing firm into British and Irish horse racing. It has a long term goal of building a portfolio of investments across the British and Irish horse racing ecosystem.

It has notable partnerships with trainer Kevin Phillipart de Foy’s KPF Racing [25] in Newmarket and Brownsbarn Thoroughbreds. 

Moores Racing’s horses include Bigger Than Giga, So Darn Hot and Perfect Dark.

In June 2024, Moores Racing welcomed its sixth horse after acquiring General Assembly at the Goffs London Sale at Kensington Palace. The Racing Post declared that “Moores Racing is Making Waves”. [26]

Publications

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electric vehicle</span> Vehicle propelled by one or more electric motors

An electric vehicle (EV) is a vehicle that uses one or more electric motors for propulsion. The vehicle can be powered by a collector system, with electricity from extravehicular sources, or can be powered autonomously by a battery or by converting fuel to electricity using a generator or fuel cells. EVs include road and rail vehicles, electric boats and underwater vessels, electric aircraft and electric spacecraft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">J. B. Straubel</span> American businessman

Jeffrey Brian Straubel is an American businessman and electrical engineer. He spent 15 years at Tesla, as chief technical officer until moving to an advisory role in July 2019. In 2023, he was elected to the company's board of directors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electric vehicle battery</span> Battery used to power the electric motors of a battery electric vehicle or hybrid electric vehicle

An electric vehicle battery is a rechargeable battery used to power the electric motors of a battery electric vehicle (BEV) or hybrid electric vehicle (HEV).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cobalt</span> Chemical element with atomic number 27 (Co)

Cobalt is a chemical element; it has symbol Co and atomic number 27. As with nickel, cobalt is found in the Earth's crust only in a chemically combined form, save for small deposits found in alloys of natural meteoric iron. The free element, produced by reductive smelting, is a hard, lustrous, somewhat brittle, gray metal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electric vehicle industry in China</span>

The electric vehicle industry in China is the largest in the world, accounting for around 58% of global production of electric vehicles (EVs) and more than 1.5 million exports in 2023. In 2023, CAAM reported China had sold 9.05 million passenger electric vehicles, consisting 6.26 million BEVs and 2.79 million PHEV. China also dominates the plug-in electric bus and light commercial vehicle market, reaching over 500,000 buses and 247,500 electric commercial vehicles in 2019, and recording new sales of 447,000 commercial EVs in 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saft (company)</span>

Saft is a French company involved in the design, the development and the manufacturing of batteries used in transport, industry and defense. Headquartered in France, it has an international presence.

Gigafactory is a generic term that refers to a manufacturing facility where components and products associated with electrification and decarbonization technologies are produced.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Automotive Energy Supply Corporation</span> Manufacturer of lithium based batteries for electric vehicles

Automotive Energy Supply Corporation (AESC) is a manufacturer of lithium ion batteries for electric vehicles established 2007 as a joint venture between Nissan, and Tokin Corporation. Since 2018 Chinese company Envision is a strong partner in the joint venture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Health and environmental effects of battery electric cars</span>

Usage of electric cars damage people’s health and the environment less than similar sized internal combustion engine cars. While aspects of their production can induce similar, less or different environmental impacts, they produce little or no tailpipe emissions, and reduce dependence on petroleum, greenhouse gas emissions, and deaths from air pollution. Electric motors are significantly more efficient than internal combustion engines and thus, even accounting for typical power plant efficiencies and distribution losses, less energy is required to operate an electric vehicle. Manufacturing batteries for electric cars requires additional resources and energy, so they may have a larger environmental footprint in the production phase. Electric vehicles also generate different impacts in their operation and maintenance. Electric vehicles are typically heavier and could produce more tire and road dust air pollution, but their regenerative braking could reduce such particulate pollution from brakes. Electric vehicles are mechanically simpler, which reduces the use and disposal of engine oil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CATL</span> Chinese battery manufacturer

Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited, abbreviated as CATL, is a Chinese battery manufacturer and technology company founded in 2011 that specializes in the manufacturing of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage systems, as well as battery management systems (BMS). The company is the biggest EV battery manufacturer, with a global market share of around 37% in 2023. The company is headquartered in the city of Ningde in China's Fujian province.

Huayou Cobalt Co., Ltd primarily operates as a supplier of cobalt and its associated products, such as cobalt tetroxide, cobalt oxide, cobalt carbonate, cobalt hydroxide, cobalt oxalate, cobalt sulfate, and cobalt monoxide. The company is headquartered in the Tongxiang Economic Development Zone of Zhejiang, China.

Emma Kendrick is Professor of Energy Materials at the University of Birmingham where her work is focused on new materials for batteries and fuel cells. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benchmark Mineral Intelligence</span>

Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, also known as Benchmark, was founded by Simon Moores in 2014.

Northvolt AB is a Swedish battery developer and manufacturer, specialising in lithium-ion technology for electric vehicles. Founded in 2015 by two former Tesla executives, it commissioned its first manufacturing plant in Skellefteå, Sweden in 2021 and has announced plans for five others in Europe and North America.

The Faraday Institution is a British research institute aiming to advance battery science and technology. It was established in 2017 as part of the UK's wider Faraday Battery Challenge. It states its mission as having four key areas: "electrochemical energy storage research, skills development, market analysis and early-stage commercialisation". The Institution is headquartered at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus near Oxford. It is a limited company and is a registered charity with an independent board of trustees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Environmental impacts of lithium-ion batteries</span>

Lithium batteries are batteries that use lithium as an anode. This type of battery is also referred to as a lithium-ion battery and is most commonly used for electric vehicles and electronics. The first type of lithium battery was created by the British chemist M. Stanley Whittingham in the early 1970s and used titanium and lithium as the electrodes. Applications for this battery were limited by the high prices of titanium and the unpleasant scent that the reaction produced. Today's lithium-ion battery, modeled after the Whittingham attempt by Akira Yoshino, was first developed in 1985.

Britishvolt is a UK startup manufacturer of lithium-ion batteries. The company initially planned production of batteries for the automotive industry. It began construction of a gigafactory at Blyth in northeast England in 2021, but work was halted in August 2022 due to funding difficulties.

The electric vehicle supply chain comprises the mining and refining of raw materials and the manufacturing processes that produce batteries and other components for electric vehicles.

Lithium Valley is an area adjacent to the Salton Sea in Southern California, United States, with enormous deposits of lithium. Due to increased demand for lithium, which is a crucial component for batteries used for electric cars and energy storage, the area is attracting attention, and the extraction of lithium is expected to boost the economy of Imperial County. The area is exceptionally well-suited due to the ability to mine the lithium while generating geothermal power. There are already 11 geothermal power plants utilizing the Salton Sea Geothermal Field.

References

  1. ↑ Moores, Simon (22 September 2010). "China bans Japan RE exports". indmin.com.
  2. ↑ Shirouzu, James T. Areddy, David Fickling And Norihiko (2010-09-23). "China Denies Halting Rare-Earth Exports to Japan". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved 2019-09-15.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ↑ Moores, Simon (24 September 2010). "Japan investigates China RE". indmin.com.
  4. ↑ "Price Premium Narrows Between Lithium Hydroxide and Carbonate | INN". Investing News Network. 2019-08-20. Retrieved 2019-09-25.
  5. ↑ gareth (2019-07-05). "Benchmark Minerals with some home truths on future lithium supplies". MiningIR. Retrieved 2019-09-26.
  6. ↑ Scheyder, Ernest (November 15, 2023). "Private equity fund takes 20% stake in EV data provider Benchmark Mineral". Reuters.com.
  7. ↑ "Full Committee Hearing to Examine Energy Storage Technologies". energy.senate.gov. October 3, 2017.
  8. ↑ "Murkowski: Energy and Mineral Security are the Building Blocks of a Robust Economy". energy.senate.gov. February 9, 2019.
  9. ↑ "EV 'arms race' revs up Murkowski's old minerals bill". politicopro.com. September 5, 2019.
  10. ↑ "THE IMPACTS OF COVID-19 ON MINERAL SUPPLY CHAINS, THE ROLE OF THOSE SUPPLY CHAINS IN ECONOMIC AND NATIONAL SECURITY, AND CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES TO REBUILD AMERICA'S SUPPLY CHAINS". govinfo.gov. June 24, 2020.
  11. ↑ "RNNR COMMITTEE MEETING". www.ourcommons.ca. February 22, 2021.
  12. ↑ "Business Secretary opens latest meeting of the Critical Minerals Expert Committee". www.gov.uk. January 28, 2022.
  13. ↑ "Benchmark to present at G7 Summit on building a UK lithium ion economy". Benchmark Source. June 4, 2021.
  14. ↑ "Government holds first taskforce for the UK Battery Strategy". GOV.UK. October 2, 2023.
  15. ↑ "Batteries for electric vehicle manufacturing - Oral evidence". committees.parliament.uk. May 9, 2023.
  16. ↑ "Energy Colloquia | Oxford Energy". www.energy.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 2019-09-15.
  17. ↑ "Rare Metals Public Agenda - Securing Critical Resources in a New Green and Industrial Era" (PDF). fsi-live.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com.
  18. ↑ "The Royal Institution – 12 March 2019 – The Faraday Institution". 7 December 2018. Retrieved 2019-09-15.
  19. ↑ "World Economic Forum: Simon Moores". weforum.org.
  20. ↑ "Mining's most influential 2017". Mining Journal. December 11, 2017.
  21. ↑ "MINING JOURNAL'S TOP 20 MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE IN MINING 2017; BENCHMARK MINERAL INTELLIGENCE GETS HONORABLE MENTION". Benchmark Source. December 13, 2017.
  22. ↑ "The UK's best-performing scale-up technology companies". megabuyte-awards.com. March 15, 2024.
  23. ↑ "The King's Awards for Enterprise Magazine: Winners". kingsawardsmagazine.com. May 6, 2023.
  24. ↑ Scheyder, Ernest (November 15, 2023). "Private equity fund takes 20% stake in EV data provider Benchmark Mineral". Reuters.com.
  25. ↑ https://www.kpfracing.com/
  26. ↑ "'It's certainly a day I won't forget' - £5 million seals the deal as superpowers haggle over Classic winner Sparkling Plenty". The Racing Post. June 17, 2023.
  27. ↑ Moores, Simon (February 2021). "THE GLOBAL BATTERY ARMS RACE: LITHIUM-ION BATTERY GIGAFACTORIES AND THEIR SUPPLY CHAIN" (PDF). The Oxford Institute for Energy Studies.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.