IMI appoints Mark Selway as new CEO as Martin Lamb retires

IMI boss Martin Lamb stepped down today from the engineering group after 13 years in the top job. He will be replaced by former Weir Group chief executive Mark Selway on 1 January, before retiring from IMI’s board at its AGM later in the year.

Chairman Roberto Quarta said: “During Martin’s period of leadership the company has been transformed from a lowly rated industrial conglomerate into a truly global engineering business. Operating margins have more than doubled, earnings have more than trebled and its market capitalisation increased by nearly six-fold.”

Shares in IMI, which supplied the beer pumps for Arsenal’s Emirates stadium, have risen by almost 35% over the past year. The company has benefited from the shale boom in the US because it makes valves for gas refinery customers.

Selway returns to the UK after a stint in his native Australia where he ran building materials group Boral. According to reports, he left Boral with a hefty payout last year after losing the support of its board. In the City, he is credited with transforming the fortunes of Weir.