Current CFO Jo Wetz will succeed Charles Noall as Element Materials Technology’s CEO from December 31, following Noall’s decision to retire after 17 years leading the group.
In his previous role as an investor at 3i, Wetz worked with Noall to lead the original buyout of the materials and product testing services company in 2010, before joining the group in 2012 as CFO. In his eight years at Element, Jo has helped to grow the group from 23 locations across five geographies with 600 employees, to almost 200 locations operating in more than 30 countries and with almost 7,000 employees.
He also led the sale of Element to Bridgepoint in 2016 and the subsequent take-private of the Exova Group in 2017, a US$1bn transaction which doubled the size of the group. At the end of 2018, he also concluded the transaction that welcomed Temasek as a significant minority shareholder.
Jo Wetz commented, “It has been a privilege to work alongside Charles [Noall] and the rest of the Element management team over the last eight years as we have transformed the company into a global leader, recognized for supporting customers operating in some of the most complex and advanced industrial supply chains. I am hugely excited about leading Element’s talented management team on the next stage of our exciting growth journey.”
“I am also delighted that Charles will remain on the board as a non-executive director, where his knowledge of the testing, inspection and certification sector and Element will continue to be a major asset. An active search for a new CFO is well underway and we expect to announce an appointment shortly,” he added.