Board changes at JSG as long serving finance chief plans retirement
Textiles services business Johnson Service Group (JSG) has lined up a successor to its long serving chief financial officer Yvonne Monaghan, who is to step down after more than 40 years with the Company, including 17 years as CFO.
Ryan Govender will take over from 1 October 2025, but she will remain employed until the end of February 2026 to complete a handover process.
He is currently CFO at Treatt Plc, a natural extracts and ingredients manufacturer to the global beverage, flavour, fragrance and consumer goods industries with operations in the UK, the US and China.
On announcing its growth in annual pre-tax-profits on 4 March 2025 JSG indicated it was planning more acquisitions after strong final year results.
The Runcorn-based workwear and hospitality industry textile business is also planning a move to the main market and a further buyback of its shares to return up to a further £30m to shareholders.
In September JSG confirmed a £20.6m acquisition of London-based Empire Linen Services.
Ryan Govender
Govender’s diverse experience, the company said, includes strategy, FP&A, corporate structuring, M&A, large capital projects, investor relations and finance transformation.
Prior to his appointment, in July 2022, as CFO at Treatt Plc, he held several roles with Associated British Foods, the FTSE 100 international food, ingredient and retail group, most recently as CFO of SPI Pharma, a provider of innovative solutions to global pharmaceutical and nutritional customers. Before that, he held finance and management roles within other ABF businesses, including Speedibake, Germains Seed Technology and Illovo Sugar. He qualified as a chartered accountant at PwC in South Africa.
Peter Egan, Chief Executive Officer, said: “Yvonne has been an outstanding CFO for JSG and I want to thank her for everything she has done for the Group and for all the support she has given to me personally. Yvonne has been instrumental in driving the success of the Group since her appointment as CFO in 2007 and she leaves us extremely well positioned for the future.”
Jock Lennox, Chair of JSG, said: “On behalf of the Board I would like to express our sincere appreciation for the outstanding contribution made by Yvonne during her time at JSG and during her tenure as CFO. She has played a pivotal role in the Group’s success over many years and can look back on her long career with JSG with immense pride. Her professionalism in continuing to lead the finance function while we have been considering succession has been exemplary. We wish her all the very best in her well-deserved retirement.
“After a thorough search process, we are very pleased to have secured Ryan to succeed Yvonne and work with Peter. Ryan is a CFO of exceptional calibre, possessing strong finance and commercial experience, gained over many years.”
Yvonne Monaghan, said: “I feel privileged and immensely proud to have had such a varied and interesting career with JSG. It has been a pleasure to work with my colleagues and the Group’s customers, suppliers and other stakeholders during my time at JSG. I am delighted that Ryan will succeed me as CFO and I look forward to working with him on an orderly transition. In the meantime, I remain fully focused on continuing to execute JSG’s strategy and delivering stakeholder value.”
She is also currently a non-executive director of The Pebble Group, and has also served on the board of NWF Group plc from 2013 until she stepped down in September 2020.
Ryan Govender, said: “I am thrilled to be joining JSG with its rich heritage of outstanding customer service, investment in its people, industry leadership position and impressive sustainability credentials. The Group’s businesses are very well-positioned with great potential to deliver further value to customers and shareholders. I am excited by the opportunity to build upon these strong foundations as JSG continues its next phase of development and I look forward to working closely with Yvonne to ensure a smooth handover.”
