December 17 2014
INNOVIA GROUP SUCCESSION PLANS
The Innovia Group has today announced changes to its executive leadership team.
David Beeby, who was instrumental in the original buyout of the business from UCB and creation of Innovia in 2004, will be retiring as Group CEO after 10 years. Following the change of ownership of the business in April 2014, and given the new owners' time frame to invest in and build on Innovia's strengths, David Beeby did not wish to commit to such a long period of future employment. The Board therefore started to recruit his replacement in order to implement an orderly succession process following the change of ownership and prior to David Beeby's retirement.
We are pleased to announce that Mark Robertshaw will be joining us in late January 2015 when he assumes the role of Group CEO. He will complete an orderly transition over the coming months prior to David Beeby's retirement, after which David will be retained as an advisor to the Group.
Mark Robertshaw comes with a significant track record, spending the last 8 years as CEO of Morgan Advanced Materials PLC ("Morgan"), a £1 billion UK Stock Market listed international manufacturing business. A brief summary of Morgan's business is attached. It is a testimony to the quality of the Innovia business, as a whole, that we can attract a person of Mark's calibre to lead Innovia through its next stage of development.
Chairman of Innovia, Malcolm Fallen commented "Today's announcement marks a significant event in the evolution of Innovia. As we transition the leadership of the Group we will lose, following David Beeby's forthcoming retirement, a first class CEO who has been instrumental in building our business in to what it is today. The business now has a truly global footprint, a proven ability to innovate, and has market leading positions in all of its major market segments.
At the same time we are delighted to have attracted Mark Robertshaw to join as our new CEO. With a demonstrable track record in driving growth and performance, he also has experience of helping global businesses to enhance technology and differentiate themselves in their markets."
For further information please contact:
Patricia Potts
Innovia Group
Tel: +44 (0) 16973 42281 Fax: +44 (0) 16973 41452
