CEO Succession
Churchill China plc has announced the final stage of its CEO succession plan, with James Roper taking over as CEO from Dave O'Connor, effective immediately. O'Connor, who has served as CEO for 14 years and with the company for 35 years, will transition to a part-time role focusing on materials, retail sales, and projects. Roper, who has led the Sales and Marketing function for 14 years and been involved in Operations and Strategy, is well-prepared for the role. Mark Revill was appointed COO in April 2025 to facilitate knowledge transfer.
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The Board of Churchill China plc announces the final part of its planned succession programme, beginning with CFO and Chair in 2023 and now concluding with the role of CEO, which will see James Roper succeed Dave O'Connor from today's date.
Dave O'Connor has been with Churchill for 35 years, the last 14 as CEO, and has led the Company through considerable expansion, the challenges of pandemic, the restoration of the manufacturing base, and the transformation of our production base through automation and efficiency improvement.
His skill base in Ceramics and deep knowledge of Churchill is unsurpassed, so we are delighted that he has agreed, on stepping away today from the Board and CEO role, to be retained within the business and will continue with the Company in a part-time position focussing on materials, retail sales and projects, all important areas for development.
The Board is also fortunate, in James Roper, to have another long tenure director who has been leading the Sales and Marketing function for 14 years. As such, James is consummate across the products and markets in which we operate, but also in the past three years closely involved in Operations and Strategy in cooperation with Dave in preparation for this development.
As part of the succession planning, Mark Revill was appointed as COO in April 2025 to work alongside Dave in Operations enabling a comprehensive transfer of knowledge in the subsequent years.
Robin Williams, non-executive Chairman commented:
"The Board is extremely grateful to Dave for his long tenure as CEO, his collaboration in the planning of this succession and his willingness to continue to contribute to the Company in his new role. His deep knowledge of every aspect of Churchill's activities will continue to benefit the team and support James as he takes over as CEO."
James Roper commented as follows:
"I am looking forward to working with our long established team at Churchill to bring about the next phase of growth at Churchill. I have huge respect for Dave and am pleased to have retained his knowledge and experience. It is also pleasing to continue my family's long association with Churchill as CEO."
Cleaned text: letterheads, contacts and legal notices removed. View the original announcement ↗ · Company filings. Not investment advice.