SEDGEFIELD-based radio frequency experts Filtronic have appointed a Formula One boss as its new Chairman.
The company, which operates from NETPark, Leeds and Maryland in America, designs and manufacturs products for the aerospace and defence markets. It has announced that Jonathan Neale will be Non-Executive Chairman from November 15th as well as being a member of the Audit and Remuneration Committee and Chair of the Nominations Committee.
For the past five years Jonathan has been Chief Operating Officer of McLaren Group, prior to which he held a number of executive roles including Chief Executive Officer of McLaren Racing F1, between 2001 to 2016, during the time Lewis Hamilton became World Champion.
He has occupied principal roles, leading strategic operational and infrastructure planning for the business and has been pivotal in the integration of the McLaren Racing, McLaren Applied and McLaren Automotive businesses.
Before McLaren, he was at BAE Systems, UK, as Managing Director for Hawk Military Aircraft. Having started as a Project Design Engineer where he led major systems projects for commercial aircraft, he was then promoted to Director of Operations and Support Operations at BAE’s Manchester and Prestwick sites and was responsible for aircraft production, customer support and pilot training. He returned to defence systems and aircraft to take charge of the Hawk Fast Jet Programme as Managing Director in 1999.
Richard Gibbs, Chief Executive Officer, said: “I am delighted to welcome Jonathan to Filtronic, with his extensive aerospace experience and leadership across fast moving technology businesses, and I look forward to working with him as we seek to execute engineering programs and scale the organisation”.
Jonathan Neale added: “I have been impressed with the capabilities of the Filtronic organisation and I look forward to working with the Board to expand and grow the Filtronic capability from its very solid engineering base into new markets, partnerships and customers".
Jonathan gained an MBA during the 1990s and participated in the UK Government’s prestigious Top Management Programme working with public and private sector colleagues.
He graduated from the University of Nottingham with an honours degree in physics and is a Fellow of the Institute of Directors; a council member of the charity The Foundation for Science and Technology; a Fellow of the Institute of Engineering and Technology; and a Chartered Engineer.
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