Halma plc, the leading safety, health and environmental technology group, today announces the appointment of Paul Walker as a non-executive Director and Chairman Designate. He will join the Board with effect from 12 April 2013 and will be appointed Chairman following the proposed retirement of Geoff Unwin, Halma’s current Chairman, who has indicated that he intends to step down immediately following the Annual General Meeting on 25 July 2013.

Paul was part of the original team at The Sage Group plc, a leading global provider of business software to small and medium-sized enterprises. Sage has a global footprint, a devolved management structure and an entrepreneurial culture. During his time as CEO, from 1994 to 2010, Sage’s revenue increased from £51m to £1,278m.

Paul has wide-ranging non-executive director experience. He is currently a non-executive Director of Experian plc and WANdisco plc, and Chairman of Perform Group PLC. He has previously served on the Boards of Diageo plc and MyTravel Group plc. Paul is a Chartered Accountant and has a BA in economics from York University.

Stephen Pettit, Senior Independent Director and Chairman of the Nomination Committee appointed to lead the succession process, said: “We are delighted to welcome Paul to the Board of Halma and to be our next Chairman. He brings significant and relevant experience which will be extremely valuable as Halma continues to develop and grow globally. “I would like to thank Geoff Unwin for his outstanding leadership of the Board over the past 11 years. His wisdom, high standards, determination and humour have been really significant to the growth and success of the Group. Since Geoff joined the Board in 2002, Halma’s market capitalisation has increased from approximately £500 million to nearly £2 billion today without recourse to shareholders. He leaves us strongly positioned to continue the Group’s value creation strategy.”