James Fisher hires Spectris's Eoghan O'Lionaird as next CEO

James Fisher and Sons has recruited Eoghan O'Lionaird from Spectris as the marine services company's next chief executive.

O'Lionaird will join James Fisher's board on 1 September and replace Nick Henry as CEO on 1 October. Henry, who has led the FTSE 250 company for 15 years, will leave the board but remain employed until the end of March 2020 to ensure a smooth handover.

At Spectris, O'Lionaird is a member of the executive committee and is business group director with responsibility for materials analysis and test and measurement segments. He joined Spectris in 2014 from Danaher where he spent three years after 11 years at Royal Philips.

James Fisher said it selected O'Lionaird after a thorough recruitment process that involved internal and external candidates. O'Lionaird is an engineer by background and started his career in Japan with Mitsui Kinzoku.

Malcolm Paul, James Fisher's chairman, said: "A strong motivational and results driven leader, Eoghan has a history of creating highly engaged teams, which suits the James Fisher culture, and with excellent international business experience he has the drive to help take the group to the next level."

In May James Fisher reported a good start to 2019 as its tankships and offshore oil divisions traded "well ahead" of a year earlier.