Tom was born in Wales, and grew up and went to school in the market town of Brecon in Powys.

After leaving Brecon Grammar School, Tom went on to read civil engineering at the University of Wales. He later obtained a Master of Science degree in finite element analysis applied to geomechanics from the same institution, and later still an MBA from London Business School. He became a Chartered Engineer at the minimum age of 25.

Prior to forming Silurian Energy in July 2011, Tom was the Managing Director of MND Exploration and Production Ltd having been headhunted to that company from Shell International. He has many years of commercial, technical and management experience with both large and small exploration and production companies. His broad knowledge covers both the upstream and midstream sectors of the energy industry, and ranges geographically from project management in the former Soviet Union to the management of LNG projects in Trinidad and Tobago. His commercial knowledge is underpinned by a solid technical grounding in petroleum engineering and Tom spent the first eight years of his career in the oil industry working in the North Sea as a Petroleum Engineer with Shell and Mobil North Sea. He has also worked in management positions in Bg International, JKX Oil and Gas, PricewaterhouseCoopers, the Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Register.