Centrica plc Appoints Non-Executive Chairman

Centrica plc is announces that Richard Haythornthwaite will be appointed Non-Executive Chairman of the Company with effect from 1 January 2014.

Further to recent speculation and its announcement on 12 June 2013, Centrica plc is pleased to announce that Richard Haythornthwaite will be appointed Non-Executive Chairman of the Company with effect from 1 January 2014. Upon appointment, Mr Haythornthwaite will also become a member and chairman of Centrica's Nominations Committee, and a member of Centrica’s Remuneration Committee. Mr Haythornthwaite will join the Board of Centrica as a non-executive director on 14 October 2013. The search for the role of Chairman was led by Mary Francis, the Senior Independent Director.

Mr Haythornthwaiteis Chairman of MasterCard Inc, and the operating businesses at PSI, a private fund. Mr Haythornthwaite began his career with BP in 1978 as a geologist. His career with BP spanned 17 years and included a number of senior positions including General Manager of the Magnus Oilfield and President of BP in Venezuela before joining Premier Oil plc as Corporate and Commercial Director in 1995. In the not for profit sector, he is chairman of the World Wide Web Foundation and the Southbank Centre.

Sir Roger Carr, current Chairman of Centrica said: "I'm delighted that Rick has accepted the Board’s invitation to succeed me as Chairman of Centrica. He brings invaluable industry experience from his time at BP, a deep knowledge of consumer relations from MasterCard and a proven record of government and regulatory body engagement from Network Rail. I believe that the combination of his knowledge and skills therefore will provide a firm foundation on which to build the continued success of this great Company.” Sir Roger Carr will step down as Chairman of the Board of Centrica on 31 December 2013.

Mr Haythornthwaite said “I feel privileged to succeed Sir Roger as Chairman of Centrica, a company with such a fine heritage and that is so relevant not only to its customers, employees and shareholders but also to the broader societies that it serves.”

In accordance with obligations under Listing Rule 9.6.13R, Mr Haythornthwaite holds or has held the following directorships of a publicly quoted company in the previous five years:

  • MasterCard Inc. from May 2006 to current

There is no other information required to be disclosed under Listing Rule 9.6.13R. Mr Haythornthwaite does not have an interest in the ordinary shares of Centrica plc.

Notes

Richard (Rick) Haythornthwaite, 56, is also the chairman of the global board at the NYSE-listed Mastercard Inc (since 2006) and the operating business portfolio at PSI, a private fund. In the not-for-profit sector, he is the chairman of the Southbank Centre in London and the World Wide Web Foundation. He previously, as CEO, led the rescue of Invensys from 2001-2005 and the defence, turnaround and subsequent sale of Blue Circle Industries from 1997-2001. He spent his early career in various corporate, upstream and leadership positions in BP from 1978-1995, including exploration and production roles in the North Sea, Alaska, France and Venezuela before moving to Premier Oil as Commercial Director from 1995-1997. He has served as a non-executive director on the boards of Cookson, Lafarge, ICI and Land Securities. He was educated at MIT (Sloan Fellow), The Queen’s College, Oxford (MA Geology) and Colstons School, Bristol. He is married to Janeen with two children.