22 May 2018
As part of the Board’s normal succession planning the Board is pleased to announce a number of changes to the composition of the Board and its Committees.
Smiths has appointed Olivier Bohuon and Dame Ann Dowling as independent non-executive Directors with effect from 1 July and 19 September 2018 respectively. On joining the Board they will both become members of the Nomination, Audit and Remuneration Committees. Biographic details are set out below.
Following Bill Seeger’s resumption of his non-executive Director responsibilities on 1 January 2018, the Board has determined him to be independent with immediate effect.
Bill Seeger will re-join the Nomination and Remuneration Committees and has accepted the appointment of Remuneration Committee chair designate with effect from 22 May 2018. In this role he will lead the review of the Company’s Directors’ Remuneration Policy which will be proposed to shareholders at the 2018 Annual General Meeting.
Having served for almost nine years on the Board, Anne Quinn, current Remuneration Committee chair, will step down from the Board on 1 July 2018. She will continue to oversee the review of the Company’s Directors’ Remuneration Policy until she stands down, at which point Bill Seeger will become chair of the Remuneration Committee.
In view of his role during 2017 as Interim Chief Financial Officer Bill Seeger will re-join the Audit Committee on 1 October 2018 or after the Full Year 2018 results have been published, whichever is the sooner.
Smiths Chairman Sir George Buckley said:
“I am delighted that Olivier and Ann have agreed to join the Smiths Board.
Olivier has had an extremely successful executive career in MedTech and Ann is an internationally respected engineer and technologist. They are both highly respected leaders in their fields and I am confident they will further strengthen Board discussions and bring invaluable insight as we continue to lead Smiths on its growth journey.
I would like to thank Anne Quinn for the highly significant contribution she has made to Smiths during her time on the Board and particularly as chair of the Remuneration Committee. I am grateful for her hard work and wise counsel over the years.”
Biographic information
Olivier Bohuon
Olivier held the role of Chief Executive Officer at Smith & Nephew plc from April 2011 until his retirement from that role on 7 May 2018. Olivier holds a doctorate in Pharmacy from the University of Paris and an MBA from HEC, Paris. He started his career in Morocco with Roussel Uclaf S.A. and then, with the same company, held a number of positions in the Middle East with increasing levels of responsibility. He joined Abbott in Chicago as head of their anti-infective franchise with Abbott International before becoming Pharmaceutical General Manager in Spain. He subsequently joined GlaxoSmithKline plc, rising to Senior Vice President & Director for European Commercial Operations. He then re-joined Abbott as President for Europe, became President of Abbott International (all countries outside of the US), and then President of their Pharmaceutical Division. He joined Smith & Nephew from Pierre Fabre, where he was Chief Executive.
Olivier has extensive international healthcare leadership experience within a number of significant pharmaceutical and medical device companies. He is also a non-executive Director of Virbac Group and Shire plc, where he is the Senior Independent Director and a member of the Remuneration Committee and the Nomination & Governance Committee.
Dame Ann Dowling
Dame Ann is a deputy vice-chancellor at the University of Cambridge where she was appointed a professor of mechanical engineering in the department of engineering in 1993. She was head of the department of engineering at the University from 2009 to 2014. Her research is in fluid mechanics, acoustics and combustion, and she has held visiting posts at MIT and at Caltech.
Dame Ann is an independent non-executive Director for BP plc where she is also member of the safety, ethics and environment assurance, nomination and chairman’s committees. She also chairs BP’s Technical Advisory Council. Dame Ann is also a member of the Prime Minister’s Council for Science and Technology.
Dame Ann is a fellow of the Royal Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering where she was elected President of the Royal Academy of Engineering in September 2014 and in December 2015 was appointed to the Order of Merit. Dame Ann is a foreign member of the US National Academy of Engineering, the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the French Academy of Sciences. She has honorary degrees from fifteen universities, including the University of Oxford, Imperial College London and the KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm.
Dame Ann is an internationally respected leader in engineering research and the practical application of new technology in industry. Her contribution in these fields has been widely recognised by universities and industry around the world.
There is no further information required to be disclosed pursuant to LR 9.6.13.
Contact details
Investor enquiries
Jemma Spalton, Smiths Group
+44 (0)20 7004 1637
+44 (0)78 6739 0350
Marion Le Bot, Smiths Group
+44 (0)20 7004 1672
+44 (0)75 8315 4386
Media enquiries
Andrew Lorenz, FTI Consulting
+44 (0)203 727 1323
+44 (0)777 564 1807
Deborah Scott, FTI Consulting
+44 (0)203 727 1459
+44 (0)797 953 7449
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