Board of Directors
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Our Board
Our Board is responsible for governance and the stewardship of the Group and meets regularly throughout the year to fulfil its responsibilities. The Board is chaired by Tim Cobbold. In addition to the Non-Executive Chair and two Executive Directors, the Board also comprises eight Independent Non-Executive Directors, who provide independent challenge and review.
Our Board is diverse ethnically, culturally and in gender and this diversity of perspective and experience enables the Board to consider and act upon the needs of all our stakeholders.
At the end of 2025 the Board had female representation of 45.5%.
Tim Cobbold, BSc, FCA, Non-Executive Director and Chair
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Committees Nomination (Chair) |
Appointed to the Board September 2024. Appointed Chair in January 2025 |
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Areas of experience Senior management, engineering, industrial, operational delivery, international business, corporate finance, M&A and strategy |
External appointments None |
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Background Tim has extensive experience in leading large, complex international listed businesses having previously been the Chief Executive Officer of Chloride Group plc, De La Rue plc and most recently, UBM plc. Prior to this he held senior management positions at Smiths Group/TI Group where he worked for 18 years. Tim was chair of TI Fluid systems plc until April 2025. He is a qualified chartered accountant and has a BSc in Mechanical Engineering from Imperial College, London. |
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Nimesh Patel - Group Chief Executive Officer - BSc
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Committees None
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Appointed to the Board September 2020 |
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Areas of experience International, senior management, M&A, finance and accounting, industrial, pensions, tax and treasury. |
External appointments Trustee of Barts Charity |
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Background Before joining the Group in 2020, Nimesh Patel was Chief Financial Officer of De Beers. Prior to that he was Group Head of Corporate Finance at Anglo American plc, leading a team based in London and Johannesburg. Previously, Nimesh spent 14 years in investment banking at both JP Morgan and as a Managing Director at UBS. In August 2023, following a rigorous selection process, Nimesh was appointed to become the next Group Chief Executive Officer and took up the position on 16th January 2024.
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Louisa Burdett – Chief Financial Officer ICAEW
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Committees None
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Appointed to the Board July 2024 |
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Areas of experience International business, senior management, finance, finance transformation, M&A, manufacturing. |
External appointments Non-Executive Director of SEGRO plc |
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Background Before joining the Group in 2024, Louisa Burdett was Chief Financial Officer of Croda International Plc. Prior to that Louisa led finance functions in several large companies including UK-listed Meggitt and Victrex. |
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Maria Antoniou - Independent Non-Executive Director B.A., FCIPD
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Committees Remuneration (Chair), Colleague Engagement |
Appointed to the Board June 2025 |
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Areas of experience Engineering, strategy, international business, senior management, change management, people, remuneration |
External appointments Group HRD at Morgan Advanced Materials plc, Non-executive director at NATS, Chair of Trustees of Transport for London’s Pension Fund |
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Background Maria currently holds the position of Group HR Director of Morgan Advanced Materials plc. She has extensive international human resources experience including seven years as Senior VP HR at E.ON, based in Germany, and has held senior HR leadership roles at Ford Motor Company, Jaguar Land Rover and Transport for London, all of which have involved complex transformation and change programmes. |
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Angela Archon - Independent Non-Executive Director - MSc, BSc Engineering
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Committees Colleague Engagement, Remuneration |
Appointed to the Board December 2020 |
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Areas of experience Engineering, operational, strategy, international business, M&A, manufacturing, senior management |
External appointments Non-Executive Director of DT Midstream Inc. CommonSpirit Health and the National Association of Corporate Directors - Texas TriCities Chapter. |
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Background Angela Archon held various senior executive positions while employed by IBM Corporation, including Vice President Transformation and Chief Operating Officer of the Watson Health Division. Angela represented IBM for eight years as Board Liaison for The National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering. She is a member of Tau Beta Pi, the Engineering Honour Society, and earned a Professional Engineer’s license. Until December 2022, she was a Non-Executive Director of Switch Inc., an independent leader in data centres and technology solutions. |
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Constance Baroudel - Independent Non-Executive Director - MSc, BA
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Committees Audit and Risk, Colleague Engagement |
Appointed to the Board August 2023 |
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Areas of experience Strategy, sustainability, operational, international business, R&D, international relations |
External appointments Sector Chief Executive, Environmental & Analysis and Chief Sustainability Officer at Halma plc |
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Background Constance is Sector Chief Executive, Environmental & Analysis and Chief Sustainability Officer at Halma plc, having previously held a range of executive positions within Halma plc, as well as with First Group plc, De La Rue and Strategic Decisions Group International. With more than 20 years’ experience, Constance has significant knowledge of working in large, global organisations. Constance holds an MSc in International Accounting & Finance from the London School of Economics, an MSc in Corporate Finance & Strategy and a BA in International Relations, both from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po Paris). Constance previously served as Non-Executive Director for both Kier Group and Synergy Health plc. |
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Peter France - Independent Non-Executive Director
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Committees Audit and Risk, Colleague Engagement, Nomination |
Appointed to the Board March 2018 |
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Areas of experience International Business, operational, industrial, sales and marketing, engineering, senior management, M&A, manufacturing |
External appointments None. |
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Background Peter France was Chief Executive Officer of TT Electronics plc from 2023 to April 2025, ASCO Group from 2018 to 2023 and of Rotork plc from 2008 to 2017. He also gained wide experience in a number of key roles at Rotork plc from 1989 to 2008 including acting as Chief Operating Officer and Director of Rotork South East Asia based in Singapore. Peter is a Chartered Director of the Institute of Directors. |
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Richard Gillingwater - Independent Non-Executive Director & Senior Independent Director - MBA, MA Law, Solicitor
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Committees Audit and Risk, Nomination, Remuneration |
Appointed to the Board March 2021. Appointed Senior Independent Director in August 2021. |
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Areas of experience International business, investment and finance |
External appointments Senior Independent Director of Whitbread plc and Governor at The Wellcome Trust. |
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Background Until December 2022, Richard Gillingwater was Chair of Janus Henderson Group plc. He also has held a range of executive positions within global investment banks including Kleinwort Benson, Credit Suisse and Barclays de Zoete Wedd. Richard holds an MBA from the International Institute for Management Development, an MA Law from Oxford University and is a qualified solicitor. |
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Caroline Johnstone - Independent Non-Executive Director - BA, CA
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Committees Audit and Risk, Colleague Engagement (Chair), Nomination |
Appointed to the Board March 2019 |
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Areas of experience Finance, people, international business, M&A |
External appointments None |
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Background Caroline Johnstone has nearly 40 years’ experience of working with large global organisations on turnaround, culture change, delivering value from mergers and acquisitions and cost optimisation programmes. She sat on the board of the Assurance practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) as people partner. |
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Andrew Kemp - Independent Non-Executive Director - BA (Econ), FCA
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Committees Audit and Risk (Chair) |
Appointed to the Board November 2025 |
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Areas of experience Finance, M&A, risk management, audit, reporting |
External appointments Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee at The Berkeley Group Holdings plc. Non-Executive Director and chair of the Audit Committee at Irwin Mitchell Holdings Ltd. A Governor and chair of the Finance Committee of Birkbeck University of London. Chair of the Audit Committee Chairs’ Independent Forum.
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Background Andrew Kemp spent nearly 39 years serving PwC’s FTSE100 clients, both in the UK and globally. During that time, he led some of the UK Firm’s largest audit relationships and undertook extensive listings and transactions work.
Between 2011 and June 2014 Andrew was a member of the Executive Board which ran PwC’s Audit and Risk Assurance business in the UK and between 2014 and 2021 he chaired PwC UK’s Non-Executive Director (“NED”) Programme. |
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Our Leadership
Meet our Group Executive Committee Bringing leadership and specialist expertise from a range of organisations and backgrounds, the members of our Group Executive Committee provide strategic direction and vision for our Group.
Corporate governance
Find out more about our Board and Executive Committee as well as the governance framework we adopt to ensure we respond and adapt with agility to the ever-changing environment around us.
Governance Documents
Guidance and protection for the Group and its stakeholders