Executive leadership workshop

You mastered the material.
Now lead the business.

The Rubber Initiative® is a one day executive workshop for senior rubber industry professionals stepping into broader commercial roles. Built around frameworks tested in real rubber businesses under pressure.

Delivered with

IRCO ACS Rubber Division APRI TechnoBiz

Where TRI fits.

The industry runs strong technical training. Compounding, testing, materials science, process. The depth available is world class.

TRI sits alongside. We work on what the technical programmes don't yet cover: the leadership shift, innovation pipelines that commercialise, AI used to augment judgement, and the next-generation business sustainability question.

Same audience. Different subject matter.

What we work through

Every framework tested in real rubber businesses under pressure.

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Sustainability and commercial edge

EU and US regulation decoded for business leaders. Sustainability as an edge your competitors haven't earned yet. Pressure-test your three horizon positioning with peers and leave with the next move clear.

Dr Matthew Thornton

Leadership at the commercial layer

Lead across generations. Use AI as an extension of your own judgement. Shift from doer to enabler without losing authority.

Michael Clayton

Innovation and R&D portfolio

Build innovation pipelines that commercialise. Allocate R&D resource by stage and risk.

Dr Matthew Thornton

schedule

Strategy into weekly rhythm

Convert strategy into weekly execution. Build accountability without bureaucracy. Leave with an execution scorecard tuned to your operation.

Michael Clayton

Upcoming

Two deliveries open this year.

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Vienna

European delivery

Vienna, Austria

10 June 2026 · Vienna Rubber Week

Delivered in partnership with TechnoBiz. Registrations are open on the partner site.

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Louisville

North American delivery

Louisville, USA

30 September 2026 · The Global Polymer Summit

Delivered in partnership with ACS Rubber Division. Registration opens on the ACS site closer to the date.

Register interest mail
Who it's for

Built for the people stepping up in rubber.

The day is pitched at senior technical people stepping into broader commercial responsibility, and the general managers who have already made the jump.

  • checkGeneral managers and senior executives in rubber manufacturing
  • checkTechnical directors carrying broader business responsibility
  • checkR&D leaders managing innovation portfolios
  • checkOperations managers with strategic responsibility
  • checkFuture leaders in succession programmes
Your presenters

Operators who understand the industry from inside.

Michael Clayton

BEng (Chem) · FAPRI · FIMMM

Twenty five years in manufacturing leadership. Twenty of those in rubber operations, from compound developer through to CEO.

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Dr Matthew Thornton

MBA · PhD · BSc Hons · CEnv · FIMMM

Twenty years in advanced materials. Director and C-suite roles at Polymateria and Haydale, with a doctorate in materials science.

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Vienna in June. Louisville in September.

Two deliveries this year. A day with peers who understand the industry. Rooms are capped at thirty to keep the discussion real.