Board of Directors

Skills and experience

Chartered accountant with extensive Board experience spanning multiple sectors including aerospace, retail and financial services.

Current appointments

Non-Executive Chairman of Signature Aviation plc and Non-Executive Chairman of Sappi Limited.

Appointments in unlisted companies

Non-Executive Chairman of BGF Group PLC.

Previous appointments

Chairman of Williams Holdings plc, Destiny Pharma PLC, Kidde plc, Heathrow Airport Holdings Limited (formerly BAA Limited), The Boots Company, Pilkington PLC, Pendragon PLC, Invensys plc and Aquarius Platinum Limited. Deputy Chairman of Barclays PLC and Non-Executive Director of BAE Systems plc.

Skills and experience

Tony has extensive aerospace industry experience, most recently gained with Rolls-Royce plc. He held a number of senior management positions, latterly as President, Aerospace. Tony previously spent sixteen years at Messier-Dowty, now part of Safran Group.

Currently, no other current or previous appointments to disclose.

Skills and experience

Trained as an electrical engineer at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne and holds a Harvard Business School MBA. Brings significant experience to the Board as a former FTSE-100 Chief Executive.

Appointments in unlisted companies

Non-Executive Chairman of robotic process automation company Softomotive Holding Ltd. Non-Executive Chairman of Brandwatch, a digital consumer intelligence company. Non-Executive Director of Berger Levrault, a French software and services company, and Non-Executive Director of Civica Group. Senior advisor to the European software team at Warburg Pincus.

Previous appointments

Group Chief Executive of The Sage Group plc and Chief Executive of Sage Group plc’s Europe and Asia division. Early career spent with software and hardware vendors in French and other European management roles.

Skills and experience

Chartered Accountant. She has held senior financial positions in industrial, manufacturing, publishing and pharmaceutical companies.

Current appointments

Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit Committee of Electrocomponents plc, a global distributor of industrial and electronic products.

Organisations

Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

Previous appointments

Chief Financial Officer of Victrex plc, which provides innovative composite polymer solutions to a variety of end markets, including aerospace. Louisa has also held CFO roles with Optos plc, the Financial Times Group, GE Healthcare and Chep Europe. She also spent time in various roles at GlaxoSmithKline, including Finance Integration Director.

Skills and experience

Chartered certified accountant with significant experience in senior operational and financial roles gained across a variety of sectors including engineering and technology, pharmaceuticals, oil and gas and aerospace.

Current appointments

Non-executive Chairman of Premier Foods plc. Non-Executive Director of Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC and Chair of the Audit committee.

Appointments in unlisted companies

Appointed to F.M. Insurance Company Limited and FM Insurance Europe S.A.. In March 2018, Colin was named Non-Executive Director for the Government’s Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs. He became Chair of their Audit and Risk Assurance Committee in July 2018. Chairman of MK:U Limited.

Organisations

Independent member of the Council of Cranfield University.

Previous appointments

Chief Executive of Essentra PLC, Chief Financial Officer of Reckitt Benckiser Group plc, Group Finance Director of Aegis Group plc, Non-Executive Director of WPP plc, Easyjet plc, Imperial Tobacco Group plc, Cadbury plc, Senior Independent Director of Amec Foster Wheeler plc and Non-Executive Director of FM Global.

Skills and experience

Electrical engineer who has held senior engineering and operational roles with a strong background in manufacturing.

Current appointments

Non-Executive Director of Brady Corporation and Chair of the Technology Committee.

Appointments in unlisted companies

Executive Chairman of Blue Current, a privately held start-up company focused on battery technologies. Principal of Gioia Consulting Services, LLC., a strategic business advisory company.

Organisations

Member of the University of Michigan-Dearborn Electrical and Computer Engineering Advisory Council and Engineering Dean’s Advisory Board.

Previous appointments

Held several key executive positions at Ford Motor Company during a thirty-three year career. She is the Chair of AutomotiveNEXT and Stanford University Alliance for Integrated Manufacturing.

Other responsibilities

Appointed by the Board as the Non-Executive Director responsible for employee engagement.

Skills and experience

Trained engineer and holds a MEng Petroleum Engineering from Heriot-Watt University. She brings specific oil and gas experience to the Board, including technology management expertise and experience running diverse functions and businesses within globally significant energy corporations.

Current appointments

Non-Executive Director of United Utilities Group PLC.

Appointments in unlisted companies

Executive Chairman of Silixa Limited, a provider of distributed fibre optic monitoring solutions.

Previous appointments

Alison has held various roles at Royal Dutch Shell from 2006 to 2015, most recently as Executive Vice President, Upstream International Unconventionals. She previously spent seventeen years at Schlumberger, a supplier of technology, integrated project management and information solutions to oil and gas customers worldwide.

Skills and experience

Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators, and Fellow of the Institute of Directors with significant legal and compliance experience.

Organisations

Non-Executive Director and Vice Chairman of Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust since 25 April 2015. He has been the Chair of the Audit and Governance Committee since 1 December 2015. He holds membership at the GC100 and the Research and Innovation Advisory Board of Leeds University Business School.

Previous appointments

Meggitt’s Company Secretary from 1994 to 2006, after fourteen years at British Aerospace in company secretarial roles.

Forthcoming changes

Philip will retire from the Board and Executive Committee with effect from 31 December 2019. He will continue as an employee until the end of March 2020.

Skills and experience

President and Chief Operating Officer of Bombardier Aerospace from April 2008 to his retirement in 2014.

Current appointments

Non-Executive Director of Hexcel Corporation and member of the Compensation Committee.

Appointments in unlisted companies

Operating partner at Advent International.

Previous appointments

Prior to his retirement from Bombardier, held significant operational roles at Delphi Corporation and General Motors Corporation.

Skills and experience

Chartered accountant with significant global investment banking experience specialising in financial institutions, financial technology and market infrastructure, and capital raising.

Current appointments

Non-Executive Chairman of FTSE 250 consumer products group, PZ Cussons plc and Chair of the Nominations Committee. Part-time Managing Director at Moelis & Company, a leading global independent investment bank.

Appointments in unlisted companies

Non-Executive Director of BUPA and Chair of the Risk Committee and member of the Audit and Remuneration Committees. Senior Independent Director of M&GPrudential PLC and member of the Audit, Remuneration, Risk and Nominations Committees.

Organisations

Trustee of the Victorian and Albert Museum and member of the Audit Committee, Chair of the Finance Committee and Chair of the Investment Committee.

Previous appointments

Vice Chairman of EMEA Investment Banking at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and spent 14 years at Morgan Stanley where she held a number of senior positions including Global Vice Chairman of Investment Banking and European Head of Financial Institutions. She started her career as a Chartered Accountant with PricewaterhouseCoopers.