Anthias Consulting turns 20

Two Decades of Impact: Diane Turner's Journey Through Analytical Chemistry and Entrepreneurship

On 1st June 2025, Dr. Diane Turner celebrates a remarkable milestone: 20 years since founding Anthias Consulting, a company that has grown to become a respected name in the field of analytical chemistry training and consultancy. Diane’s path to becoming a business owner, trainer, scientific leader, and advocate has been anything but ordinary, marked by a deep passion for science, a commitment to helping others, and a constant drive for excellence.

Foundations in Chemistry and Analytical Science

Diane began her academic journey at the University of Warwick, where she earned her BSc(Hons) degree in Chemistry with Medicinal Chemistry (1994–1997). Her fascination with analytical methods lead her to pursue a Masters in Instrumental & Analytical Methods in Biological & Environmental Chemistry (1998–1999).

During her MSc, Diane conducted a six-month research project at Zeneca Agrochemicals, using GC-MS and LC-MS to analyse technical grade material. She received two job offers upon completing her studies: one to stay on at Zeneca with a temporary contract and continue her work using ion chromatography which she started before being formally offered another to build an applications lab for a GC instrument distributor but starting the following year, which she then moved to.

Building a Career in the Analytical Instrumentation Industry

Choosing the more entrepreneurial route, Diane moved to Cambridge in January 2000, following 3 months surveying coral reefs in the Philippines to create marine-protected areas (MPAs). She joined a small gas chromatography instrument distribution company called Anatune, where she spent the next five years (2000–2005) as an Applications Chemist. There, Diane was involved in method development, instrument training and demonstrations, literature writing, beta testing of software and hardware, health & safety management and gave presentations at seminars and conferences.

During her tenure, the company doubled in size, necessitating a second laboratory. Diane's work helped shape the organisation’s growth and reputation.

In March 2005, after leaving Anatune, she took a break to once again survey coral reefs, this time in Fiji with her husband.

From Business Idea to Reality: Founding Anthias Consulting

In May 2005, Diane was offered multiple job opportunities, including joining The Open University. However, a long-standing desire to run her own business led her to explore entrepreneurship. She engaged with the Cambridge Enterprise Agency, attended business start-up courses, and thoroughly wrote a business plan – “my bible” as she describes it.

On 1st June 2005, Diane officially launched Anthias Consulting. Named after the colourful Anthias fish, a nod to her time surveying coral reefs, the company was designed to fill a gap in high-quality training and consultancy for analytical science focusing only on knowledge, with no instrument or consumable sales.

The early days were challenging. “At the beginning, everything took 10x longer than I expected, but I took the opportunity to set-up everything myself; templates for invoices, mailers, etc. and also wrote my own website from scratch in HTML as there weren’t software packages in those days! I also went on a Microsoft training course to get as much knowledge as possible on networking, software installation, IT, etc. and gained my A+ certification as, from experience, I knew this was becoming really important in analytical chemistry,”

Partnership with The Open University and Pursuing a PhD

By August 2006, Diane began consulting with The Open University, a relationship that continues to this day. In 2007, The Open University began hosting Anthias training courses, strengthening the collaboration.

In 2009, she began a part-time PhD at The Open University, in partnership with Amersham Hospital and the Medical Detection Dogs, working on novel diagnostic techniques for bladder cancer which branched into prostate cancer, hepatic disorders and sepsis diagnosis. After pausing her studies to raise her children (a child in 2010 and twins in 2012) while still running her business, Diane returned to her research in 2016, completing her PhD in January 2017.

Leadership, Advocacy, and Scientific Community Involvement

Diane’s commitment to advancing analytical science extended well beyond her company. She served as a Trustee of the Analytical Chemistry Trust Fund (ACTF) from 2016, eventually becoming Chair of the Board of Trustees from 2020 to 2023. The ACTF supports analytical chemistry education and research for the public good.

She also became an elected member of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) in 2016 before being appointed President-Elect of the RSC’s Analytical Division Council in 2019, only the third woman to hold this prestigious role since 1875. Her term as President in 2020 to 2023 marked a period of transformation.

“During my term, I feel that we achieved so much:
• Leading the transition from Analytical Division to Analytical Science Community
• Prioritising member engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic
• Focused on collaborations between interest groups and societies outside of the RSC on a range of subjects and events. These include co-chairing CRUK-ASCC workshops and co-chairing an inter-Community Indoor Air Quality workshop
• Helping organise the first inaugural Solutions in Science (SinS) conference as a scientific organising committee member “

Since 2020, Diane has been a Visiting Fellow at The Open University, supporting research projects, mentoring PhD students, and troubleshooting analytical instruments.

She also plays key roles in major scientific events.

As an independent Scientific Committee Member for SinS (2022–present), she has overseen social media strategy and event growth. “After the success of the 2023 event, I'm looking forward to the 2025 being even bigger and better!”

For the 2023 International Symposium on Chromatography (ISC), she was a Local Organising Committee Member; “I worked on massively increasing the number of vendors exhibiting and sponsoring; improving the LinkedIn page and massively growing follower numbers alongside posting information; and general marketing tasks. At the conference I chaired multiple sessions, including a plenary speaker, judged posters, gave a tutorial and ran a networking session to launch the International Women in Chromatography Community. I very much enjoyed being part of this team!”

20 Years of Anthias Consulting: A Reflection

As Diane marks 20 years of Anthias Consulting, she reflects on the journey:

“Like everything, there have been high points and low points, times when I couldn’t imagine doing anything else and times when I felt like giving up and working for someone else. Employing my first person was one of the scariest parts of owning a business and the most difficult part was keeping my business running while having children, ensuring money was coming in to pay salaries, I worked every day including when in hospital in the maternity unit and was back at a customer’s site who needed urgent assistance 3 weeks later.”

Despite the hurdles, her commitment never wavered. “We have been fortunate enough to win several awards over the years which I am very proud of, but my proudest moments are still when we help an analyst or a company to improve their methods or solve a problem. When I’m training and an explanation results in the lights flicking on in someone’s eyes and places a smile on their face, or when we receive follow-up feedback saying how the training has given someone the confidence to go back to their lab to fix a problem, or resulted in them being offered the job or promotion that they wanted, that’s the best reward.”

Her mission remains unchanged: “Helping people, building knowledge and confidence, resulting in methods that give the correct the results is what I love and strive to achieve every day.”