- Julie Southern appointed Senior Independent Director and non-executive director effective from the conclusion of the AGM on 16 July 2026; she will join the Audit and Nomination Committees.
- Barbara Jeremiah (Senior Independent Director) and John O'Higgins (Remuneration Committee chair) will retire from the Board at the same AGM.
- Sinead Lynch will become chair of the Remuneration Committee effective from the conclusion of the AGM on 16 July 2026.
- Julie currently serves on the boards of NXP Semiconductors (NASDAQ, since Oct 2013) and Ocado Group (LSE, since Sep 2018); previously served on RWS (Jul 2022–Dec 2023) and EasyJet (Aug 2020–Feb 2023).
Board changes
Barbara Jeremiah (Senior Independent Director) and John O'Higgins (Remuneration Committee chair) will retire from the board at the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting on 16 July 2026; Sinead Lynch will become chair of the Remuneration Committee from the same date.
Appointment of Julie Southern
Following a comprehensive search, the board approved Julie Southern as a non-executive director and Senior Independent Director on 27 May 2026; her appointment is effective from the conclusion of the AGM on 16 July 2026 and she will join the Audit and Nomination Committees.
Experience and previous roles
Julie is a Chartered Accountant with FTSE board and C‑suite experience in finance, strategy, business development and governance. She currently chairs NXP Semiconductors NV (NASDAQ) and is on the board of Ocado Group plc, and previously served on the boards of RWS Holding Plc (Jul 2022–Dec 2023) and EasyJet Plc (Aug 2020–Feb 2023).
