Experian installs finance veteran Mike Rogers as new chairman

The FTSE 100 information services company said Rogers was succeeding Don Robert who, as it had announced on 14 December, had notified the firm of his intention to step down as chairman and a director.

Rogers joined the Experian board in July 2017, and had successfully chaired the remuneration committee since July last year.

He was currently a non-executive director of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, where he chaired the group sustainable banking committee and sat on the group performance and remuneration committee.

Rogers was the non-executive chairman of Aegon UK - a life insurance, pensions and asset management subsidiary of Aegon - and was the chief executive officer of LV= Group, which grew “significantly” and was successfully rebranded and transformed under his tenure, from 2006 until 2016.

Before that, he spent 20 years at Barclays, latterly leading its UK retail banking business.

Experian said the nomination and corporate governance committee undertook an “extensive and robust” search process, using external consultants, to identify the best possible candidate for the role of chairman.

The process included the identification of key criteria required for the role, followed by the detailed assessment of a “broad and diverse” range of external and internal candidates.

It said the committee concluded that Mike Rogers was the outstanding candidate, and recommended his appointment to the board.

“I am delighted Mike has been chosen to succeed me as chairman,” said the incumbent, Don Robert.

“Experian has made tremendous progress in recent years through investments to take advantage of technological transformation and expansion in its addressable markets.

“The recent results showed a year of considerable progress, with ground-breaking new propositions and growth broadly spread across several geographies, and this gives me great confidence in Experian's future.”

Experian’s deputy chairman and senior independent director, George Rose, who led the planned succession process, added that Rogers had “deep” financial and regulatory experience at leading organisations, with the board believing him to be the right cultural fit to lead the board, having “strong credibility” within the business and with key stakeholders.

“We ran a thorough process to ensure we identified the very best candidate to lead Experian, and Mike is the unanimous choice of the committee and the board.”

Mike Rogers himself said he was “honoured” to have been appointed as chairman.

“Experian is a great global business with a clear growth strategy, high-performing culture and excellent workforce,” Rogers explained.

“Don has done an outstanding job as chairman over the last five years, and previously as chief executive officer, and I look forward to working with the board and the executive team on the opportunities ahead as we successfully advance our strategic agenda and address new markets.”

Going forward, Experian said Rogers would chair the board's nomination and corporate governance committee, with George Rose being appointed as chairman of the remuneration committee, both with effect from the conclusion of the annual general meeting on 24 July.

Rogers would remain a member of the remuneration committee.