Mike O'Leary to take up role as chairman at Dotdigital

Marketing automation and customer engagement software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider Dotdigital Group has appointed Michael O'Leary to its board as non-executive chairman, it announced on Friday, effective immediately.

The AIM-traded firm said its current interim chairman, Ian Taylor, who assumed the role until a full-time appointment could be made, would step down from the board and remain “fully committed” in his brand ambassadorial role, continuing to focus on Dotdigital's strategic partnerships.

It said the appointment of O’Leary would bring a “wealth of leadership” and public limited company experience to the board.

His career of more than 30 years had been spent serving on AIM listed, FTSE 250 and FTSE 100 companies, with a focus on the technology sector.

O’Leary is a non-executive director of Epwin Group, and due to retire from his role as non-executive chairman of EMIS Group in May, following a nine-year tenure.

He would also chair the company’s nomination and risk committees, the board said.

As it had announced last year, the directors undertook a review of the board's composition, in line with the QCA Corporate Governance Code.

Following the appointment of O’Leary, the board would consist of two independent non-executive directors, which met its independence criteria as defined by the code.

The company said it would continue the search for another independent non-executive director to join the board, with the intention that they would chair the audit committee.

“On behalf of the team at Dotdigital, I would like to welcome Mike to the board,” said chief executive officer Milan Patel.

“Mike has extensive experience running global operations across a range of disciplines and his deep understanding of public company governance will be a great asset to the company.

“We look forward to his counsel as we continue to execute our growth strategy.”

Mike O'Leary himself said he was “looking forward” to taking on the role of chairman at Dotdigital, adding he was enthusiastic about the potential for the business.

“Notwithstanding Dotdigital's strong fundamentals, it is the group's ongoing innovation in the marketing automation space, geographic expansion ambitions and talented team that attracted me to the business.”

At 1012 GMT, shares in Dotdigital Group were flat at 97p.