Smith+Nephew Announces Change of CEO

Smith+Nephew has revealed that Namal Nawana will step down from the board and his position as CEO by mutual agreement on October 31, 2019 to pursue other opportunities outside of the UK. Roland Diggelmann has been appointed as the company’s new CEO and will take on his new responsibilities on November 1, 2019. Nawana will be employed and provide advice and assistance to Diggelmann in his new role until 31 December 2019 to help ensure a smooth transition.
 
Nawana has been instrumental in delivering on a critical phase of Smith+Nephew’s development, accelerating revenue growth across franchises and geographies as well as improving profitability. The new CEO and senior leadership team will now build on these strong foundations to further drive commercial execution and deliver on the company’s strategic ambitions.
 
Diggelmann joined Smith+Nephew’s board as a non-executive director in March 2018. Since then, he has gained deep insight into the company and its management team. His career has been spent in medical technology, most recently as CEO of Roche Diagnostics, a global business which at the time of his departure in 2018 had turnover of CHF11.5 billion ($11.5 billion) in over 100 markets and 34,000 employees. Prior to his 11-year career at Roche Diagnostics, Diggelmann spent 12 years in the orthopedics sector, serving in strategy and leadership roles at Sulzer Orthopedics and Zimmer, now Zimmer Biomet.
 
Diggelmann commented, “I am honored to have been asked to lead Smith+Nephew at an exciting time for the business. As non-executive director I have seen first-hand the strength of the group’s people and its portfolio of leading technologies. I look forward to playing my part in shaping the future of the company and driving the next stage of growth.”
 
“There is clear momentum behind our strategy laid out last year, underlined by the company’s performance generated by our team during 2019. I am proud to be leaving Smith+Nephew in a strong position for the next phase of its development,” said Nawana.