Board of Directors
Alex Walker, Chairman
Alex Walker was appointed to the Board on 22 December 2006 and was appointed Non-Executive Chairman of the Board and Chairman of the Nomination Committee on 4 March 2010. He served as the Senior Independent Non-Executive Director and Chairman of the Remuneration Committee from December 2006 to March 2010. He was chief executive of Yule Catto & Co. plc for over 20 years until 17 August 2006 and also served for many years as a member of the audit, remuneration and nomination committees of Rotork plc.
Biography [PDF 25KB]
Bill Burns, Chief Executive Officer
Bill Burns was appointed Chief Executive Officer on 6 November 2008, having previously led the Communications division. He is responsible for overall leadership, strategy, investments, coordination of resources and leveraging Spirent’s breadth and depth of technology across all of Spirent’s business units.
Prior to this position, he was Chief Executive Officer of the Communications Group, Executive Vice President of the Communications Group and President, Service Assurance Broadband, responsible for global sales and corporate marketing across all divisions. In these roles he drove critical business changes to improve profitability and grow market share.
Prior to joining Spirent in November 2004, he held several executive leadership positions at Tellabs, Inc. including Senior Vice President Global Marketing, Senior Vice President – Europe, Middle East and Africa and Vice President – Competitive Service Provider Sales. In these roles, he led the strategic planning, marketing, sales, financial and operational efforts for multi-million dollar operations. He has been at the forefront of introducing new technologies to the market, delivering unique business value to customers.
He holds a degree in Telecommunications Engineering from Pennsylvania State University, a Business Administration degree from College Misericordia and a Master of Business Administration degree from Temple University.
Biography [PDF 40KB]
Eric Hutchinson, Chief Financial Officer
Eric Hutchinson was appointed Finance Director in 2000, having previously been responsible for all financial reporting and control within the Group.
He was appointed Finance Director on 1 January 2000. He joined Spirent in 1983 and was appointed Chief Accountant in 1987. In 1997, he was appointed Head of Corporate Accounting with responsibility for all financial reporting and control within the Group.
He is a Fellow of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants, and a member of the Financial Reporting Review Panel.
Biography [PDF 25KB]
Non-Executive Directors
Ian Brindle, Senior Independent Non-Executive Director
Ian Brindle was appointed to the Board on 22 December 2006 and is Chairman of the Audit Committee. He was previously UK chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers and deputy chairman of the Financial Reporting Review Panel. He serves as a non-executive director on the boards of 4imprint Group plc and Elementis plc.
Biography [PDF 25KB]
Duncan Lewis, Independent Non-Executive Director
Duncan Lewis was appointed to the Board on 1 July 2007. Mr Lewis is chief executive officer of Vislink plc, a technology company supplying secure communication systems to the broadcast, law enforcement and marine and energy markets. Until October 2008 he was senior adviser to The Carlyle Group, assisting them in developing strategy and identifying investments in the telecommunications and media sector worldwide.
Biography [PDF 28KB]
Tom Maxwell, Independent Non-Executive Director
Tom Maxwell was appointed to the Board on 1 October 2007. Until September 2007, he was investment director and head of the UK Growth & Income Product Group at Martin Currie Investment Management in Edinburgh and is a non-executive director of Foresight 3 VCT plc. He is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers in Scotland and a Member of the Society of Investment Professionals & CFA Institute.
Biography [PDF 29KB]
