The Board of Essentra plc announces that, following more than ten years of service, Jeff Harris will retire as Chairman. The Board appoints Paul Lester, CBE, as Chairman Designate with immediate effect, who will work closely with Jeff over the coming months to ensure a smooth transition of his responsibilities. Paul is currently Chairman of John Laing Infrastructure Fund, Greenergy and Knight Square Holdings.

Between 2002 2010, Paul was Chief Executive of VT Group plc, prior to which he held a variety of increasingly senior operational and strategic roles at a number of publicly-listed companies.