Former Ford heavyweight hired as Yorkshire Water chairman

KELDA Holdings, the owner of Yorkshire Water, has announced the appointment of a former Ford heavyweight as its next chairman.

Richard Parry-Jones will join as a non-executive director on the board of Kelda Holdings, Kelda Eurobond Co, and Yorkshire Water Services, in January.

He will take over from Kevin Whiteman as non-executive chairman of those companies from April 1.

Parry-Jones has had a long and successful career with Ford Motor Company, retiring as group vice president, global product development and chief technical officer in 2007 after 37 years with the company.

He was awarded a CBE for his services to the automobile industry.

Following retirement from full time roles in 2007 Mr Parry-Jones has combined a consulting career with board roles at GKN, where he is the senior independent director, and in 2012 he became chairman of Network Rail.