Pilkington strengthens board

PILKINGTON, the world's biggest glassmaker, will strengthen its board this week with the appointment of three heavyweight non-executives.

The three - Bill Harrison (left) of Deutsche Morgan Grenfell, James Leng, chief executive of Laporte, and Oliver Stocken, finance director at Barclays - join as the St Helens-based company undergoes a major corporate restructuring.

Pilkington, led by chairman Sir Nigel Rudd and chief executive Paolo Scaroni, hopes the appointments will improve investor sentiment. The company's shares have underperformed the stock market by 30 per cent in the last year. In June it reported a pounds 100m pre-tax loss, partly due to the restructuring programme which involves the closure, merger or sale of 70 businesses and 7,500 job cuts.