Board and management team

John Hughes CBE
John O’Higgins
Clive Watson
Jim Webster
Roger Stephens
John Warren
Peter Chambré
Russell King

John Hughes CBE

Chairman

John Hughes was appointed to the Board in 2007 and became Chairman in 2008. John was previously executive vice-president and chief operating officer of defence, aerospace and electronic systems company Thales Group SA. He is currently non-executive chairman of Sepura plc and Telecity Group plc, and a non-executive director of Vitec Group plc, CSG Systems International, Inc. and Nice Systems Ltd, a NASDAQ listed company. John is an adviser to private equity firm Advent International and also serves as an ambassador of the Alzheimer's Society. Chairman of the Nomination Committee; member of the Remuneration Committee.

John O’Higgins

Chief Executive

John O’Higgins joined Spectris in 2006. Prior to joining Spectris, John was with Honeywell, latterly as President of Automation and Control Solutions, Asia Pacific. He began his career with Daimler Benz in Stuttgart. John has engineering degrees from University College Dublin and Purdue University and an MBA from INSEAD. John is a non-executive director of Exide Technologies, a company listed on NASDAQ. Member of the Nomination Committee.

Clive Watson

Group finance director

Clive Watson joined Spectris in 2006. He was previously at Borealis, a leading provider of plastics solutions, where he was chief financial officer and executive vice-president for business support. Prior to this, he was group finance director at Thorn Lighting Group and before that group finance director Europe with Black & Decker. Clive is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and the Chartered Institute of Tax and holds a Bachelors degree in Commerce & Accounting from the University of Birmingham. He is a non-executive director of Spirax-Sarco Engineering plc.

Jim Webster

Business group director

Jim Webster, a metallurgy graduate, joined Spectris in 1993. He is responsible for the operational supervision of a number of the group’s trading companies. He was previously general manager of the European Wire and Cable Division of Raychem Corporation.

Roger Stephens

Head of commercial & company secretary

Roger Stephens is an economics graduate and chartered company secretary. Prior to joining Spectris in 1997, he held commercial roles in the power and construction sectors, specialising in contract negotiation, litigation and claims resolution, IP exploitation and property development.

John Warren

Non-executive director

John Warren was appointed to the Board in 2006. From 2000 to 2005, he was group finance director at WH Smith PLC. Prior to that, he was with United Biscuits Plc for 19 years, latterly as group finance director. He has been a non-executive director of Rexam Plc and RAC plc and is currently a non-executive director of The Rank Group Plc and Bovis Homes Group PLC. Chairman of the Audit and Risk Committee, member of the Nomination Committee and Remuneration Committee, Senior Independent Director.

Peter Chambré

Non-executive director

Peter Chambré was appointed to the Board in 2006. He is chairman of Xellia Pharmaceuticals, 7TM Pharma and OneMed Group, all private companies, and a non-executive director of BTG plc. He is also an adviser to private equity company 3i. Peter was formerly chief executive officer of Cambridge Antibody Technology Group plc and prior to that was chief operating officer of Celera Genomics Group and chief executive of Bespak plc. Member of the Nomination Committee, Remuneration Committee and Audit and Risk Committee.

Russell King

Non-executive director

Russell King was appointed to the Board in October 2010. Until October 2009, Russell was Chief Strategy Officer of Anglo American PLC and between 2006 and 2009 was a non-executive director of Anglo Platinum Ltd. Prior to that he spent over 20 years in senior roles at ICI, gaining worldwide experience in its fertiliser, petrochemical and paint businesses. Russell is also a non-executive director of Aggreko plc. Chairman of the Remuneration Committee and member of the Nomination Committee and Audit and Risk Committee.