REG - RWS Holdings PLC - Board Changes

RWS HoldingsAnnouncement

27/07/2022 07:16

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RNS Number : 8320T  RWS Holdings PLC  27 July 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
                          27 July 2022

 

RWS Holdings plc

 

Board changes

 

RWS Holdings plc ("RWS" or "the Group"), a unique world-leading provider of
technology-enabled language, content and intellectual property services, today
announces the appointment of Julie Southern as Non-Executive Director and
Chairman Designate. The appointment forms part of the Group's succession
planning, with the intention that Julie takes up the role of Non-Executive
Chairman in October 2023, at which time Andrew Brode will become a
Non-Executive Director.

Julie, who will also become a member of the Group's Audit Committee, brings a
wealth of business and governance experience from her previous executive
career and her Non-Executive Director roles.

Julie is currently a Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit committees
at Rentokil Initial, Ocado, NXP Semiconductor and easyJet, where she is also
Senior Independent Director. She will have served as a Non-Executive Director
at Rentokil Initial for a period of nine years in July 2023.  Julie has also
previously held Non-Executive Director positions at DFS Furniture Company and
Cineworld Cinemas, where she chaired the respective Audit Committees, at
Stagecoach where she chaired the Remuneration Committee and at Gategroup where
she chaired the Nomination and Compensation Committee. Julie's executive
career included a number of senior finance, operations and marketing roles
including at Porsche Cars, as Group Finance Director from 1996, before she
joined Virgin Atlantic in 2000 as CFO with a broad management role, later
becoming its Chief Commercial Officer in 2010.

With world class leadership established across the Group, following the
appointment of Ian El-Mokadem as CEO and the SDL acquisition, Julie's
appointment will further strengthen the Group's highly experienced Board and
provide a high calibre successor to Andrew Brode as Chairman.

Andrew has indicated his intention to step down from his role as Chairman with
effect from October 2023 at which time he will become a Non-Executive
Director. Andrew remains fully committed to supporting the Board in driving
the business forward and intends to remain a significant shareholder in the
Group.

 

Lara Boro, Senior Independent Director of RWS, commented:

"We are delighted to welcome Julie to the Board of RWS following an extensive
search process which identified her as the ideal candidate to enhance the
Board, and as Andrew's successor.  Her breadth of experience in executive and
non-executive positions across a range of blue-chip businesses will be of
great value to the Board as the Group capitalises on its unique platform to
drive accelerated, sustainable organic growth, complemented by acquisitions.
Julie's appointment, ahead of Andrew stepping down to a Non-Executive Director
role, will enable a smooth transition of roles."

 

Julie Southern, Non-Executive Director and Chairman Designate, commented:

"I am delighted to be joining RWS as Chairman Designate at such a key stage of
the business' development. RWS has an exceptional platform combining leading
technology and expertise and a very successful track record of growth. I look
forward to working with the Board to lead such a world-class company and team
as it delivers on its clear strategy for value creation."

 

Ian El-Mokadem, CEO of RWS, commented:

"I would like to add my warm welcome to Julie as she joins our Board.  Julie
brings broad experience from a range of high-quality customer-focused
organisations and I look forward to working with her to capitalise on the
Group's expanded scale, footprint and capabilities, and strong financial
position, to deliver on our medium-term strategy and five year accelerated
growth plan, as set out at our recent Capital Markets Day."

 

"We are thankful that Andrew will be remaining with us as Non-Executive
Director, once he steps down from the role as Chairman, thereby enabling the
business and the Board to continue to benefit from his broad knowledge of our
industry, his entrepreneurial flair and his wise counsel.  Andrew's
contribution to RWS's growth has been huge, guiding the business from a
c.£40m company, upon its listing in 2003, to a c.£1.4bn market
capitalisation today, with leading positions in attractive end markets."

 

Directorships

Other than the directorships listed below, there is no further information
required to be disclosed pursuant to paragraph (g) of Schedule 2 of the AIM
Rules for Companies in relation to Julie Southern's appointment to the Board.

 

Julie holds or has held directorships in the five years preceding her
appointment at RWS as follows:

 

Current appointments:

easyJet plc

 

NXP Semiconductors NV

 

Ocado Group plc

 

Rentokil Initial plc

 

Shilton Midco 2 Ltd (Safety-Kleen)

 

Appointments held in past five years:

Cineworld Group plc

 

DFS Furniture plc

 

Hilbre UK Ltd

 

Stagecoach Group plc

 

 

For further information, please contact:

 

 RWS Holdings plc

 Andrew Brode, Chairman

 Ian El-Mokadem, Chief Executive Officer

 Rod Day, Interim Chief Financial Officer   01753 480200

 MHP (Financial PR advisor)                 rws@mhpc.com

 Katie Hunt / Simon Hockridge               020 3128 8100

 

 Numis (Nomad & Joint Broker)

 Stuart Skinner / Kevin Cruickshank / Will Baunton      020 7260 1000

 Berenberg (Joint Broker)

 Ben Wright / Toby Flaux / Alix Mecklenburg-Solodkoff   020 3207 7800

About RWS:

 

RWS Holdings plc is a unique, world-leading provider of technology-enabled
language, content and intellectual property services. Through content
transformation and multilingual data analysis, our unique combination of
technology and cultural expertise helps our clients to grow by ensuring they
are understood anywhere, in any language.

 

Our purpose is unlocking global understanding. By combining cultural
understanding, client understanding and technical understanding, our services
and technology assist our clients to acquire and retain customers, deliver
engaging user experiences, maintain compliance and gain actionable insights
into their data and content.

 

Our clients include 90 of the world's top 100 brands, the top 20
pharmaceutical companies and 19 of the top 20 patent filers. Our client base
spans Europe, Asia Pacific and North and South America. We work in the
automotive, chemical, financial, legal, medical, pharmaceutical, technology
and telecommunications sectors, which we serve from 80+ global locations
across five continents.

 

Founded in 1958, RWS is headquartered in the UK and publicly listed on AIM,
the London Stock Exchange regulated market (RWS.L).

 

For further information, please visit: www.rws.com.

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