Two former IROs have moved into senior management positions in recent weeks, with the news that Keri Mattox, formerly SVP of IR and chief communications officer at Zimmer Biomet, has moved into a new role as chief business officer at Parexel, a Nasdaq-listed biopharmaceutical firm.
Earlier in 2024, Mattox announced that she would be taking a short career break to spend time with her family after spending more than four years at Zimmer Biomet.
Announcing her new role on LinkedIn, she adds that the break was ‘stellar, amazing, reinvigorating, inspiring [and] fun’ and that she was ‘incredibly excited’ to join the team at Parexel.
‘This team is known for its commitment to making a difference for patients,’ Mattox writes. ‘The company is also poised for its next phase of growth and armed with a clear goal: better and faster clinical trials. I look forward to contributing to Parexel’s next chapter and want to thank CEO Peyton Howell and the entire Parexel team for the warm welcome!’
Howell says: ‘[Keri’s] extensive expertise, proven leadership and strong partnerships in the pharmaceutical and medical technology industries will be extremely valuable as we position Parexel for the next phase of our growth. I know she will be a tremendous asset to the company and our leadership team.’
In the UK, David Walker has been appointed as CFO at London-listed property development and investment company British Land, taking on the role and joining the firm’s board as an executive director from November 20, when current CFO Bhavesh Mistry will step down.
Walker has been COO and an executive committee member at British Land since 2021, and previously served as head of IR and as interim CFO from November 2020 to July 2021. Until 2023, he was chair of the UK’s IR Society, having served on its board since 2012.
Speaking about the new role, Walker says: ‘It’s a privilege to join British Land’s board and become CFO at such an important and exciting time for our business. I will be relentlessly focused on ensuring British Land is in the best place to take full advantage of the many opportunities we see in our markets.’
Elsewhere, aerospace and defense company BAE Systems has appointed Paul Checketts as its new IR director, effective early 2025.
Checketts joins the London-listed company from Serco, where he has led the outsourcer’s IR function since 2020, prior to which he served as an analyst for Barclays. The appointment follows the move of Martin Cooper, BAE System’s former investor relations director, to Qinetiq as group CFO earlier this year.
Finally, Zara Wajahat has been appointed IR manager at German travel and tourism company TUI, where she joins a team of six IR professionals and takes responsibility for leading the function’s ESG efforts.
Wajahat has been working in IR since joining Workspace Group in 2022, where she has served in the company’s IR and strategy team. Prior to that, she held various roles including in audit at Deloitte and three years at Goldman Sachs in an equity research role.
Speaking about her new role, she says: ‘I am thrilled to join the IR team at TUI, one of the world’s leading tourism companies. It is a sector I am very passionate about and look forward to contributing toward its growth and success’.
Laurie Havelock
Laurie has been part of the IR Magazine team for more than a decade, starting out as a reporter and research editor before becoming editor in 2023. He was previously acting business editor at the i newspaper and deputy business editor at The Daily...
