Michael Harper BSc Eng, MSc
Chairman, non-executive, British, aged 67, appointed to the Board on 14 June 2004, became Chairman on 1 November 2004; and Chairman of the Nominations Committee. Currently Chairman of BBA Aviation plc and Ricardo plc and a non-executive director of QinetiQ Group plc. Until June 2010, he was a director of Catlin plc and was formerly Chief Executive of Kidde plc, having previously held senior roles at both Williams plc and Vickers plc.
Stephen Bird MA
Group Chief Executive, British, aged 51, appointed to the Board on 14 April 2009. He is a non-executive director of Umeco plc. Previously he was Divisional Managing Director of Weir Oil & Gas, part of Weir Group plc. Prior to this he has worked in senior roles at Danaher Corporation, Black & Decker, Unipart Group, Hepworth PLC and Technicolor Group.
Simon Beresford-Wylie BA
Non-executive, independent, British, aged 53, appointed to the Board on 1 March 2006; member of the Audit Committee and the Nominations Committee and Chairman of the Remuneration Committee. Appointed Chief Executive Officer of Elster Group SE in 2009. Previously Chief Executive Officer of Nokia Siemens Networks and member of the Nokia Group Executive Board having joined the Nokia Group in 1998 from Indian mobile operator Modi Telstra (Pte. Ltd.), where he was Chief Executive Officer. Prior to that he held various management positions within Telstra’s Corporate and Government Business Unit.
John Hughes CBE, BSc
Non-executive, independent, British, aged 60, appointed to the Board on 11 March 2011; member of the Audit Committee, the Nominations Committee and the Remuneration Committee. He is currently Chairman of Spectris plc, Telecity Group plc and Sepura plc. He is also a director of Nice Systems Limited, CSG Systems International, Inc and Just Eat Group Holdings Limited. He was previously executive vice-president and chief operating officer of Thales SA, the defence, aerospace and electronic systems group. He is an adviser to Advent International, the private equity firm, and also serves as an ambassador to the Alzheimer’s Society.
Maria Richter BA, JD
Non-executive, independent, dual American and Panamanian, aged 57, appointed to the Board on 28 February 2007; member of the Audit Committee, the Nominations Committee and the Remuneration Committee. She is currently a director of National Grid plc, The Pantry Inc and The Bessemer Group Incorporated. She is a director of Pro Mujer International and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Pro Mujer UK. Previously with Morgan Stanley for nine years, most recently as Managing Director of the Corporate Finance Retail Group. Prior to that she held senior positions with Salomon Brothers, Prudential Capital Corporation and Power Funding Associates.
Nigel Moore FCA
Non-executive, independent, British, aged 67, appointed to the Board on 1 March 2004; Chairman of the Audit Committee, member of the Nominations Committee and of the Remuneration Committee. He is the Senior Independent Director. He is currently Chairman of The TEG Group plc, a director of Hochschild Mining plc, JKX Oil & Gas plc, Ascent Resources plc, Intelligent Comms Ltd, and Production Services Network Ltd. Formerly a London based partner of Ernst & Young, where he was client service partner for London International PLC and the UK operations of Coca Cola.
Jon Bolton FCIS, LLB
Group Company Secretary, British, aged 45, appointed on 1 October 2008. Previously Group Company Secretary of Waste Recycling Group. Prior to this he was Deputy Company Secretary at Cable & Wireless and worked at GlaxoSmithKline.
Paul Hayes M.Eng & Man, ACA
Group Finance Director, British, aged 45, appointed to the Board on 13 June 2011. Previously he was Group Financial Controller at Signet Jewelers Limited. Prior to that, he held senior roles at RHM plc and Smiths Group plc.
Carolyn Fairbairn BA, MA and MBA
Non-executive, independent, British, aged 51, appointed to the Board on 1 February 2012; member of the Audit, Nominations and Remuneration Committees. She was a non-executive director of the Financial Services Authority between 2007 and 2011. Until April 2011, she was Director of Group Development and Strategy at ITV plc, having also spent five years as Director of Strategy at the BBC and a member of its Executive Board. She has also been a partner at McKinsey, where she specialised in media, and a policy adviser in the Number 10 Policy Unit. Previous non executive roles include chair of Friends Reunited, chair of the Royal Television Society, and a director of Digital UK and Freeview.