Smiths Group announces senior management changes

Smiths Group plc today announces senior management changes.

Duncan Gillis, an executive with wide international experience in a number of sectors, is appointed President & CEO of John Crane.  A US national, Gillis formerly held senior posts in a number of countries for Procter & Gamble, McKinsey and United Technologies Corporation.  He was most recently President & CEO of Algeco Scotsman, a global service company specialising in modular space and secure storage with annual revenues of €1.4 billion.

At the same time Ralph Phillips is stepping down as President of Smiths Interconnect to further his career through opportunities outside the Group.  He will be succeeded by Mark Reckitt, Smiths Group Director of Strategy.

Smiths Chief Executive Philip Bowman said: “Duncan has an outstanding track record in growing multi-country businesses with high exposure to emerging markets. He has thrived in performance-driven cultures and his background ideally equips him to take John Crane on to the next stage of its development.

“I would like to thank Ralph for his valuable contribution in growing Smiths Interconnect which has almost doubled in size over the past few years.  However, different phases in a business’s development often require different leadership skills.  As with John Crane, we felt the time was right for management change at Smiths Interconnect.  I wish Ralph well in the next steps he takes in developing his career.

“I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Tedd Smith for his interim leadership of John Crane.  Tedd will ensure a smooth handover before resuming his role as President of Flex-Tek.

“As I commented in our annual results statement last month, we are committed to continue to raise the bar in terms of talent across all the divisions.  Mark will lead Interconnect which has recently been restructured into three discrete business units under new and strengthened management teams.  He will also continue in his role as Group Strategy Director at a time when the impact of quantitative easing on the Company’s legacy pension liabilities will continue to significantly constrain our opportunity to pursue material acquisition and divestment opportunities.”

Before joining Smiths in February 2011, Mark Reckitt had a 21-year career with Cadbury plc. He held a number of senior finance and commercial posts including Chief Commercial Officer and Finance Director for its UK confectionery and Europe, Middle East and Africa soft drinks businesses. Latterly, he was Managing Director of Green & Black's.