About Us
A leading supplier of recycled packaging in Europe
With a turnover in 2011/12 of £2.0 billion and employing more than 20,000 people, DS Smith Plc is an international supplier of recycled packaging for consumer goods.
On 30 June 2012 DS Smith acquired SCA Packaging. On a combined basis, the group is now the second largest manufacturer of corrugated products in Europe. We are also a leading worldwide supplier of bag-in-box packaging and a leading European supplier of plastic returnable transit packaging. The combined Group now has revenues of approximately £4 billion (based on a combination of historically reported figures and a 12 month contribution from both businesses).
DS Smith is a FTSE 250 company listed on the London Stock Exchange and headquartered in Maidenhead.
Gareth Davis
Chairman
Appointed to the Board on 1 June 2010 as a non-Executive Director. He became Chairman of the Board on 4 January 2012 and is Chairman of the Nomination Committee. He is Chairman of both William Hill PLC and Wolseley plc. He was previously Group Chief Executive of Imperial Tobacco Group PLC.
Age 63.
Non-Executive Director, Member of Nomination Committee and Member of Remuneration Committee.
Miles Roberts
Group Chief Executive
Appointed to the Board on 4 May 2010 as Group Chief Executive. He was previously Chief Executive of McBride plc from July 2005 until April 2010 having originally joined as its Group Finance Director in January 2002. He was a non-Executive Director of Care UK plc until May 2010.
Age 49.
Member of General Purposes Committee and Member of Nomination Committee.
Steve Dryden
Group Finance Director
Appointed to the Board on 1 April 2008 as Group Finance Director. He was until recently a non-Executive Director of Fiberweb plc. He held the position of Finance Director of Filtrona plc following its demerger from Bunzl plc in 2005. Prior to that he was divisional Finance Director of the Filtrona businesses and held other senior finance positions within Bunzl plc. He began his career at Price Waterhouse and has also held various finance roles within Rolls-Royce plc.
Age 45.
Member of General Purposes Committee.
Chris Britton
Non-Executive Director
Appointed to the Board on 6 March 2013 as a non-Executive Director. He is a non-executive director of Alliance Boots GmbH. Until the end of 2012 he was CEO of the Findus Group, a privately owned frozen and chilled food company, having previously been an executive board member and President of the Baby Division of Royal Numico until its acquisition by Danone in November 2007. Before that he worked for Diageo for 20 years in various marketing and general management positions, including his final role as global marketing director of Diageo.
Age 55.
Non-Executive Director, Member of Nomination Committee, Member of Remuneration Committee and Member of Audit Committee.
Christopher Bunker
Non-Executive Director
Appointed to the Board on 9 December 2003 as a non-Executive Director. He is the Chairman of the Remuneration Committee and was Senior Independent Director. He was previously Group Finance Director of Thames Water Plc, Tarmac Plc and Westland Group Plc. He is a non-Executive Director of Travis Perkins plc and was a non-Executive Director of Mowlem Plc, Baltimore Technologies plc and Xansa plc.
Age 66.
Non-Executive Director, Member of Nomination Committee, Member of Remuneration Committee and Member of Audit Committee.
Philippe Mellier
Non-Executive Director
Appointed to the Board on 7 September 2006 as a non-Executive Director. He is Group Chief Executive Officer of De Beers Group. He was President of Alstom Transport and an Executive Vice-President of Alstom Group, was previously Chairman and CEO of Renault Trucks and a Member of the Executive Committee of AB Volvo, and prior to that held senior management positions with Renault S.A. and Ford Motor Company.
Age 57.
Non-Executive Director, Member of Nomination Committee, Member of Remuneration Committee and Member of Audit Committee.
Jonathan Nicholls
Senior Independent Director
Appointed to the Board on 1 December 2009 as a non-Executive Director. He is the Senior Independent Director and is the Chairman of the Audit Committee. He was previously Group Finance Director of Hanson Plc and, most recently, Group Finance Director of Old Mutual Plc. He is a non-Executive Director and Chairman of the Audit Committees of Great Portland Estates plc and SIG plc and was a non-Executive Director of Man Group Plc.
Age 55.
Non-Executive Director, Member of Nomination Committee, Member of Remuneration Committee and Member of Audit Committee.
Kathleen O’Donovan
Non-Executive Director
Appointed to the Board as a non-Executive Director on 5 December 2012. Kathleen is currently Senior Independent Director of ARM Holdings plc and chairs the Audit Committee. She is also a non-Executive Director of Trinity Mirror plc and chairs the Audit Committee. She was previously a non-Executive Director of Prudential plc, EMI Group plc and O2 plc and Senior Independent Director of Great Portland Estates plc. She has served as a Director on the Court of the Bank of England from 1998 to 2004 and was Chief Financial Officer of BTR plc and Invensys plc from 1991 to 2002.
Age 55.
Non-Executive Director, Member of Nomination Committee, Member of Remuneration Committee and Member of Audit Committee.
Matt Jowett
Group General Counsel and Company Secretary
Appointed Group General Counsel and Company Secretary on 21 June 2011. He was previously Group General Counsel and Company Secretary of VT Group plc and prior to that he was Group General Counsel of RMC Group plc. He began his career at law firm Linklaters.
Age 45.
The Company is committed to the principle and application of sound corporate governance
A description of the Group's approach to corporate governance is provided in the Corporate Governance section of the Group's Annual Report.
Terms of Reference of the Board Committees
Please click below to view the terms of reference of the principal committees of the Board of Directors:
Annual General Meeting Proxy Votes
- Details of the proxy votes cast on the resolutions at the 2012 Annual General Meeting
- Details of the proxy votes cast on the resolutions at the 2011 Annual General Meeting
- Details of the proxy votes cast on the resolutions at the 2010 Annual General Meeting
- Details of the proxy votes cast on the resolutions at the 2009 Annual General Meeting
General Meeting Proxy Votes
1980s
The Group grew rapidly during the 1980s with the acquisitions of St Regis Paper Company in 1986 for £83 million and Kemsley Paper Mill in 1988 for £11 million. The initial development into plastic packaging occurred with the purchases of Corrugated Products for £12 million and Waddington & Duval for £2 million.
1990s
Growth continued during the 1990s through a combination of organic development and acquisitions. The Group's largest paper mill, Kemsley, was upgraded between 1993 and 1996 at a cost of £110 million. The £170 million acquisition of Kaysersberg Packaging in 1991 added a continental European presence particularly in heavy duty corrugated packaging. In addition, the Kaysersberg purchase provided a continental position in the plastic packaging market. The Group acquired Spicers in 1993 for £93 million. John Dickinson, a UK manufacturer of envelopes, books and pads, was acquired in 1996. In 1998, a new conventional corrugated plant was opened at Fordham in the UK.
2000s
In 2001 the Company changed its name from David S. Smith (Holdings) PLC to DS Smith Plc.
In 2001, a number of UK corrugated packaging operations, previously owned by Danisco, were acquired for £21 million. The acquisition of Linpac Containers in March 2004 for £167 million made the Group the UK's largest producer of corrugated packaging. Severnside Recycling was enlarged in 2004 through the acquisition of BPB Recycling. In February 2008, the Group acquired New Thames Paper Mill, which is adjacent to St Regis' paper mill at Kemsley in Kent, in order to modify it to produce high-quality lightweight corrugated case material.
In Italy, a second corrugated packaging factory at Lari was opened in 2002. The Polish corrugated factory at Kielce was modernised and a new second factory at Kutno was opened in 2005.
DS Smith's position in liquid packaging and dispensing was built through the acquisitions of Packaging Systems LLC (trading under the name Rapak) for £17 million in 2000 and Zewathener GmbH for £17.5 million in 2002.
Spicers acquired Plein Ciel in 2001 and launched its Spanish business in 2002 with a distribution centre at Barcelona, and in November 2004 launched its Italian business with a distribution centre near to Milan. In October 2005, Spicers further extended its European coverage by acquiring Timmermans, the largest office products wholesaler in the Benelux region. The John Dickinson office products manufacturing business was sold in July 2005.
2010 - Present
In September 2010 DS Smith acquired Otor, a French corrugated packaging business, providing DS Smith Packaging France with a leading position in corrugated packaging for consumer goods. In December 2011 DS Smith announced the completion of the disposal of Spicers to Unipapel SA. In January 2012 DS Smith announced the proposed acquisition of SCA Packaging, accompanied by an equity issue. On 30 June 2012 SCA Packaging became part of the DS Smith Group.