GSK PLC (LSE:GSK, NYSE:GSK) poached Burberry Group PLC (LSE:BRBY)’s chief financial officer (CFO) Julie Brown to complete a rare but all-female executive leadership team.
Brown will replace Iain Mackay, who has been finance chief at the FTSE-100 pharmaceuticals giant since 2019.
Brown’s appointment comes during times of significant change for the blue-chip company, which demerged its consumer healthcare business – now Haleon – in a £30bn deal in July.
GSK’s new CFO, who is leaving Burberry after almost six years, is an experienced pharmaceutical executive, having been interim CFO of at GSK’s pharma blue-chip rival AstraZeneca PLC (LSE:AZN), where she also held several other senior roles.
She was also finance chief at medical devices maker Smith & Nephew and a member of Boris Johnson’s business council, which advised the former prime minister on economic issues during his time at 10 Downing Street.
Brown is also a non-executive director of Swiss healthcare group Roche Holding, which she is expected to have to step down from following her new GSK job.
Shares in Brown’s new employer jumped 1.2% to 1,329p – taking GSK’s market value to just over £54bn – considerably larger than Burberry’s, which is worth £6.5bn on the stock market.