Cobham appoints Wareing chairman as Devaney steps down

FTSE 250 aerospace and defence group Cobham said chairman John Devaney will step down from his role with effect from 31 December, to be replaced by Michael Wareing, who is currently the company’s senior independent director.

This follows the appointment of David Lockwood as chief executive officer and David Mellors as chief financial officer, who will start on 12 December 2016 and 1 January 2017 respectively.

Wareing – whose term is expected to end by the 2019 annual general meeting – will be responsible for supporting the new CEO and CFO and running a selection process to identify the next chairman.

Wareing is also senior independent director and chairman of the Audit Committee of Intertek.

Devaney said: “After serving as the Chairman of Cobham for over six years, I have decided that, having put in place new executive leadership, now is the right time for me to hand over the baton.

“Continuity in the chairman's role will be important in the period during which the new executive team take on their roles. Therefore I am delighted that the board has agreed to appoint Michael Wareing to take over as chairman.”

At 0805 GMT, the shares were up 0.1% to 160.10p.