WH Smith names Annette Court as chair designate

Retailer WH Smith named Annette Court as a non-executive director and chair designate on Wednesday, succeeding outgoing chairman Henry Staunton.

Court will join the board of WH Smith on 1 September before taking over as chairman from Staunton, who spent nine years in the role, on 1 December.

The FTSE 250-listed firm highlighted that Court was currently chair of Admiral Group and a non-executive director of Sage Group. Previously she was the CEO of Europe General Insurance for Zurich Financial Services and was also the CEO of Direct Line Group from 2001 to 2006.

Chief executive Carl Cowling said: "I would like to thank Henry for his wise counsel, guidance, and support during my tenure as CEO. Henry has played a key role in contributing to the company's success and I would like to wish him well for the future.

"I am very much looking forward to working with Annette as we continue to expand the scale and footprint of the business and benefit from the many exciting opportunities that lie ahead of us."

As of 0830 BST, WH Smith shares were up 1.13% at 1,572.50p.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com