London, United Kingdom - February 27, 2015, London, United Kingdom - GlaxoSmithKline plc announces that Sir Christopher Gent will step down as chairman at the AGM on May 7, 2015.
Article continues below
Sir Christopher became Chairman of GlaxoSmithKline plc on 1 January 2005 after joining the Board as Deputy Chairman on 1 June 2004. He was appointed Managing Director of Vodafone plc in 1985 and then became its Chief Executive Officer in 1997 until his retirement in 2003.
Sir Christopher was also Non-Executive Director of Ferrari SpA until March 2014 and a member of the British Airways International Business Advisory Board until November 2014. He is a Senior Adviser at Bain & Co.
Sir Christopher will be succeeded by Sir Philip Hampton with effect from the end of the AGM.
Sir Philip joined GSK as Non-Executive Director on January 1, 2015. He is Senior Independent Director of Anglo American plc, Chairman of its Remuneration Committee and a member of its Audit Committee.
Sir Philip has been Chairman of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc since February 2009. He was previously Chairman of J Sainsbury plc and Group Finance Director at Lloyds TSB Group, BT Group plc, BG Group plc, British Gas and British Steel plc.
Sir Philip is a former Executive Director of Lazards and a Non- Executive Director at RMC Group Plc and Belgacom SA. He previously served as Chairman of UK Financial Investments Limited, which manages the UK Government’s shareholdings in banks.
In addition, Tom de Swaan, independent Non Executive Director, is not seeking re-election to the Board at the AGM. He has been a Board member for 9 years and is currently Chairman of the Remuneration Committee and a member of the Audit & Risk Committee (of which he was previously Chairman), and the Nominations Committee.
Mr. de Swaan is Chairman of the Supervisory Board of VanLanschot Bankiers and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Zurich Insurance Group. He is also a member of the Supervisory Board of Royal DSM.
He was previously a Non-Executive Director of the KPMG Europe LLP Public Interest Committee, Vice Chairman of the Supervisory Board and Chairman of the Audit Committee of Royal Ahold and a member of the Managing Board and Chief Financial Officer of ABN AMRO. ■