Smith and Nephew names next company chairman

Smith and Nephew has announced the appointment of veteran businessman Roberto Quarta as its chairman elect and non-executive director.

He will join the board on December 4th 2013 and will offer himself for re-election at the company's annual general meeting on April 10th 2014, becoming chairman after this date.

Mr Quarta is the current chairman of the engineering business IMI, energy company Rexel and private equity group Clayton, Dubilier and Rice Europe, while in the past he served as chief executive officer of BBA Group.

He has been appointed as successor to Sir John Buchanan, who has served as the company's chairman since 2006, but will be retiring from the board next year.

Olivier Bohuon, chief executive officer of Smith and Nephew, said: "John will be a hard act to follow, but we are confident that in Roberto we have found another excellent chairman."

This comes after the firm reported its financial results for the third quarter of 2013 last week, highlighting a five percent year-on-year increase in revenue.