People: Warwick Acoustics; Magma Chartered Accountants
Warwick Acoustics, the audio technology company, has appointed experienced automotive industry leader Ian Harnett as chairman of the board.
Hartnett has been a non-executive director at the company for the past 12 months.
He was instrumental in the expansion of Jaguar Land Rover both in the UK and overseas across the last decade. Serving on the company’s main board, he oversaw sustainable growth of the UK’s largest car maker, opening a range of new production facilities outside the UK, doubling its workforce from 17,000 to around 38,000 people and more than doubling sales.
His last role at Jaguar Land Rover was executive director for human resources and global purchasing. Prior to that, Harnett oversaw the purchasing team of Land Rover following Ford’s acquisition of the brand in 2000.
Mike Grant, Warwick Acoustics CEO, said: “Ian joined our board in November 2022, and has been extremely valuable to the business over the last twelve months. He has helped us build key, high level relationships across the industry, supported contract negotiations, and provided the Board and Management Team with deep insight into the operation and thinking of our customers and potential customers.
“Ian’s experience in establishing new manufacturing facilities will be increasingly important as we scale-up production of our electrostatic automotive audio systems. We are delighted he has agreed to take on this new role, providing even more support to the business.”
Harnett added: “I am excited to be appointed to the role of chairman after a fantastic first 12 months working with Warwick Acoustics.
“It is rare to find a company that is doing something that is as genuinely revolutionary as the ElectroAcoustic Panels Warwick Acoustics has developed. To see the incarnation of this technology within the distruptive systems the company has created is a testament to the team, the leadership group, and the wider ecosystem that supports the company.
“This is a British company with a world-leading and unique product, which is generating a great deal of interest from the very best automotive OEMs and I am relishing the opportunity to take on this new role as the company goes from strength-to-strength.”
Magma Chartered Accountants has made nine senior promotions across the firm’s Audit, Business Services, Corporate Tax and Private Client Tax teams.
In Audit, Ryan Parkin and Matt Norris have been promoted to associate director, whilst Mark Freeth has been promoted to senior manager in the Business Services team.
In Corporate Tax, both Vicky Tunaley and Pam Keogh have been promoted to associate director.
In Private Client Tax, Amy Read, Jade Varden, Richard White and Rebecca Mason have all been promoted to senior manager.
Mark Tuckwell, managing partner, said: “These promotions are well deserved, and it gives me much pleasure to be able to congratulate them on their achievements. Personal progression is at the very heart of our continued business success and it’s great to see further recognition of that.”
