GlobalWelsh, the not-for-profit organisation focused on connecting the Welsh diaspora globally, has confirmed that Andrew Williams, CEO of FTSE 100 global life-saving technologies group Halma plc, has become the latest member of the Welsh diaspora to become a Founding Patron and investor of the grassroots organisation.
Originally from Heath in Cardiff, Andrew attended Llanishen High School followed by the University of Birmingham, where he gained a degree in Engineering Production, and subsequently qualified as a Chartered Engineer. He has also studied in the Advanced Management Programme at The Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania.
In 1994, Andrew joined a Cwmbran-based subsidiary of Halma plc, a global group of small and medium sized companies with operations in over 20 countries. Halma’s businesses are focused on developing safety, health or environmental solutions using innovative technologies to solve problems across a range of industry sectors including process safety, medical equipment, life sciences and health monitoring.
In 2002, Andrew joined Halma’s Executive Board and was appointed to its main plc Board in 2004. He was promoted to Group Chief Executive in 2005, making him one of the longest currently serving FTSE 100 CEOs. Since 2005, Halma has grown revenue and profit every year and its market capitalisation has increased from £600million to around £9.6billion today.
Andrew has lived in Windsor, Berkshire for the past 16 years, and is based at Halma’s global headquarters in Amersham, UK. He also holds non-exec directorships at Capita plc and Cardiff Blues Rugby.
As a Founding Patron of GlobalWelsh, he joins a group of leading organisations and business leaders, in Wales and around the world. This includes fellow FTSE 100 CEOs, past and present, Warren East, of Rolls-Royce, former Admiral CEO, David Stevens, and JustEat UK founder and former CEO, David Buttress. On his appointment, Andrew Williams commented:
“I am thrilled to be invited to join GlobalWelsh as a Founding Patron and look forward to having the opportunity to help others in Wales raise, and achieve, their aspirations. I am also excited to be working with the other Founding Patrons and the rest of the GlobalWelsh organisation to finding practical ways in which we can accelerate Wales’s progress towards being a country which ‘punches above its weight’ economically in the future, as we do in so many other ways today.”
The function of the GlobalWelsh Founding Patron group is to leverage their global knowledge, experience and networks to provide insight, perspectives and dimension to both the GlobalWelsh board and the community itself through its range of programmes. Walter May, founder and CEO, of GlobalWelsh, commented:
“Having spent the last 25 years in international manufacturing leadership roles, Andrew has a wealth of knowledge and experience that we, and our members, can benefit from. In fact, he is already making a contribution by mentoring one of our members to support the growth of their advanced manufacturing business based in Wales.
“As Wales looks to bolster its manufacturing sector beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, and Brexit, Andrew's experience and passion for engineering and manufacturing is something we plan to harness more of. We also want to share his story, the story of someone from Wales who’s reached the pinnacle of his career and, hopefully, offer some inspiration to the current and future generations of young people in Wales.”
