INKJET printing technology specialist Xaar has appointed Sue LaVerne as chief people officer and Karl Forbes as group R&D director.
The newly created roles are designed to assist the business in the next phase of its transformation by strengthening the wider leadership team.
Sue has international, cross-sector HR experience, having worked for organisations including Marks and Spencer plc, E.ON, and Headlam Group plc. In her role as chief people officer, she leads group HR and is tasked with helping to ensure that Xaar delivers on its ambition of becoming an ‘employer of choice’.
She said, “Xaar already has a strong set of values and great people who are clearly passionate about its products, and I’m delighted to be part of the team driving the people strategy across the group. We’ve already rolled out a number of exciting initiatives – such as our Early Careers Programme – as we invest in both our people and our community.
“By continuing to develop our people strategy we will cement Xaar as being both a great place to work and one where everyone can build their career.”
As group R&D director, Karl heads up a 75-strong development team, bringing together the engineering skills from across FFEI, Megnajet and Xaar’s printhead business to deliver on its development roadmap and enable ‘sustainable growth’ for OEM and UDI customers.
He has experience in the digital inkjet sector, having worked for Videojet and Inca Digital. Karl also previously worked at Xaar as a member of the technical R&D team in the early 2000s.
“Xaar has led the way in inkjet technology innovation for over 30 years and the creativity and passion of our people has been central to this,” he said. “I am very excited to be part of this fantastic team as we continue to innovate for customers and unleash the power of inkjet.
“By enabling the sharing of R&D best practice and technologies across the group, our team will continue to develop best-in-class printheads and systems to meet our customer’s needs for today and tomorrow.”
John Mills, CEO of Xaar, added, “I am delighted to welcome both Sue and Karl to Xaar. They will ensure we have the best people, as well as a strong R&D focus, as we continue to drive the development of the next generation of inkjet printheads and deliver our vision of a world where you can print anything you can imagine.”
