Aston Martin revamps board as overhaul continues
Updated : 10:18
Aston Martin Lagonda has revamped its board in the latest move by the luxury carmaker to overhaul leadership and performance.
The FTSE 250 company has recruited Anne Stevens, Robin Freestone, Richard Parry-Jones and Antony Sherrif as independent non-executive directors. Stephan Unger is also joining as a non-executive director to represent Mercedes-Benz.
All four of the independent directors will join the remuneration, audit and risk and nomination committees when they join on 1 February. Bill Tame will leave the board immediately and Matthew Carrington and Peter Espenhahn will depart at the next annual general meeting.
Stevens will chair the remuneration committee and engage with the company’s workforce. She worked for Ford for 16 years before joining GKN where she was briefly chief executive during the hostile takeover by Melrose. Freestone is a former Pearson chief financial officer and chairs the accountancy industry’s corporate governance committee.
Parry-Jones worked at Ford for almost 40 years until 2007 and was GKN’s senior independent director before becoming chairman of Marshall Motor Holdings.
Sheriff is chairman and CEO of Princess Yachts and ran McClaren during a 10-year spell to 2013. He will be Aston Martin’s senior independent director. Unger has worked in the car industry since 1993 and has been on the management board of Daimler, Mercedes' parent, since 2012.
Aston Martin has already replaced its chief executive and cleared out most of its top managers under Executive Chairman Lawrence Stroll, who led a rescue of the struggling company in 2020. CEO Tobias Moers, drafted in from Mercedes, has pledged to leave “no corner untouched” to overhaul James Bond’s favourite carmaker.
Stroll said: “Anne, Robin, Richard, Antony and Stephan are strong additions to the board and their extensive expertise and experience of automotive and luxury will be of great value to us. This is a very important time for the company as we start to execute our plans to enable Aston Martin to become one of the preeminent luxury car brands in the world.”
Aston Martin said it would comply with the UK’s corporate governance code when the appointments took effect. It said the board would seek to increase its diversity as a top priority.