Dr Fretwell studied for his chemistry BSc (First Class Hons) at Lancaster University, (1988-91), spending the middle year at the University of Colorado at Boulder (USA). During the year in Colorado he did an undergraduate research product for Dr T. Koch, developing a method to measure the reduction potential of a stable organic radical species. He gained his PhD at the University of Leeds (1991-95) working for Prof R. Grigg on the Palladium catalysed synthesis of spirocycles, fused and bridged ring systems. Following this, Dr Fretwell set up and ran his own business gaining valuable experience of the commercial world before starting work as a software developer. He worked as a programmer for IBIS Business Information Systems, followed by Apex Software Systems in Manchester developing database applications for the financial sector.
He combined his love of chemistry and computers when he joined Synopsys Scientific Systems in Leeds in 2000. The company became Accelrys in 2001. At Accelrys he is Solutions Group Manager, heading a team of developers working on cheminformatics software solutions.