Technology and network services company Telent has announced the appointment of Paul Lester CBE as a Non-Executive Director and Chairman of the company.

Mr Lester joined the Board as of Friday 2 September 2022, succeeding David Naylor-Leyland who is stepping down as Chairman after 12 years in the position. He will continue to be a member of the Board, continuing as a Non-Executive Director.

Paul Lester has more than 30 years’ experience of managing companies at PLC level, divisions of large multi-national companies, and chairing public, private, and private equity-backed businesses. He is currently Chairman of McCarthy & Stone plc, Essentra PLC, Funeral Partners Ltd.

He was also formerly a Non-Executive Chairman of Forterra PLC and John Laing Infrastructure and Director of Invensys PLC. During his career, he was Group Managing Director of Balfour Beatty PLC before becoming Chief Executive of engineering services company, VT Group PLC.

David Naylor-Leyland, Chairman said: “After almost twelve years as Chairman, it is time for me to step down. It’s been a privilege to act as Chairman since 2010, during which time Telent has achieved considerable success as a provider of mission critical technology solutions and importantly we were able to take the GEC Pension Fund to Buy.

“I look forward to continuing to support Telent in a non-executive capacity. Paul has a wealth of experience and is, I believe, a fantastic choice to move the business forward to our strategic objectives. We’re very pleased that he will be joining the Telent Board”.

Commenting on his appointment, Paul Lester said: “I am delighted to be joining the Board of Telent and am looking forward to helping Jo Gretton and the rest of the team achieve their exciting strategy.’’  

Jo Gretton, Chief Executive Officer added: “I would like to thank David for his role as Chairman and look forward to his continued support as a Non-Executive Director. I’m also delighted that Paul has agreed to Chair our Board through our next phase of growth and look forward to working with him.”

(Picture – Telent)