CHRIS Hancock, the founder of a Chepstow-based medical group, has been named in the Sunday Times Maserati 100 - its annual list of inspiring entrepreneurs.

Mr Hancock is also chief technology officer of the company, Creo Medical Group plc, which is based at Beaufort Park in Cheptow.

The firm is a medical device company focused on the emerging field of surgical endoscopy.

The 2019 Maserati 100 is the fifth annual celebration of UK entrepreneurial excellence and this year’s theme was ‘innovators’ recognising entrepreneurs who have contributed original thinking to their industry, in particular those who have had a big idea and converted it into a business success. Nominations were judged by a panel of industry experts from the Sunday Times and the list was published in the Sunday Times Business section over the weekend.

Mr Hancock has more than 20 years of experience in medical device development including four years at Gyrus Group plc as senior engineer.

He holds a personal chair in the Medical Microwave Systems Research Group at Bangor University and is a Fellow of the Institute of Physics, a Chartered Physicist, Fellow of the Institute of Engineering and Technology, a Chartered Engineer and a Senior Member of the IEEE.

He is a named as inventor and lead author on more than 500 patents/patent applications and journal publications.

Mr Hancock said: “I am both delighted and humbled to have been included within a list of some extraordinary entrepreneurs and innovators from the UK. I am so pleased with the progress that we’ve made since I started the business with little more than two people, a garage to work from, and a vision to create a platform to apply microwave and RF energy to surgical endoscopy and deliver real-life improvements to cancer patients.

“We are moving ever closer to the full commercial launch of our suite of products initially focussed on gastrointestinal therapeutic endoscopy, and I am very excited by the continued drive for innovation that the business maintains. I look forward to continuing to expand our suite of products focussed on gastrointestinal cancer, and to the ongoing development of our soft tissue ablation range of devices, which could have game changing implications for pancreatic and lung cancer treatment and other indications.”