Chris Rickard joins Whatman from VT Group plc, a FTSE 250 company with annual turnover of £1 billion, where he was Finance Director. Prior to VT Group he served as Group Finance Director of The Weir Group plc and of Meggitt plc, also both FTSE 250 companies. In addition to his responsibilities as Finance Director, Chris will also take on new responsibility for IT, supply chain management and facilities management.

Phil Greenhalgh has been Finance Director of Whatman since June 2003.  He has agreed to remain with the Company until August to enable an orderly handover.  In addition, Whatman announces that Ian Bonnar will be leaving his position as Chief Operating Officer. His responsibilities for manufacturing will transfer to Manfred Baumann who will report direct to the CEO.

Kieran Murphy, CEO of Whatman, commented:

“Chris Rickard brings a wealth of experience to Whatman, having been the Finance Director of a number of sizeable listed companies.  He also has enormous operational experience which will serve us well during a time of restructuring at Whatman as we seek to improve our customer service, product quality and overall Group performance. We are delighted to welcome him to the Company.

“The Board wishes to place on record its gratitude to Phil Greenhalgh and Ian Bonnar for their contribution to the Company’s development in recent years. They both leave with our best wishes for their future careers.”

Enquiries:
Whatman Plc
Kieran Murphy, CEO	Tel:	+44 208 326 1740
Financial Dynamics
David Yates / Anna Keeble	Tel:	+44 20 7831 3113