Biography

Graham Chipchase joined Rexam in February 2003 as Finance Director and member of the Board. In October 2005 he moved to an operational role as Group Director Plastic Packaging, a £1.2 bn turnover business within Rexam. The Plastic Packaging sector has around 50 plants around the world and employs some 15,000 people. In January 2010 he became Rexam's Chief Executive.

Graham has a BA (Hons) in Chemistry from Oriel College, Oxford, and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants.

Most of Graham’s career has been spent in manufacturing businesses. After five years in the Audit & Corporate Tax Departments of Coopers & Lybrand Deloitte, he joined the BOC Group plc as Corporate Finance Manager in 1990. His career in The BOC Group included various positions within Financial Planning and Analysis in both US and European subsidiaries in the gas and healthcare divisions. He was appointed Group Controller in 1999 and Director of Planning and Financial Control the following year.

He left The BOC Group in 2001 to join GKN plc, the automotive and aerospace engineering group, as Finance Director of its Aerospace Services business.

Q&A with Graham Chipchase

You joined Rexam nearly seven years ago as Finance Director you then moved to head up the Plastic Packaging business, so you know the Company well and vice versa so what about pre-Rexam?

I studied Chemistry at university and then trained as a chartered accountant. Then I spent 11 years with a company called BOC (now Linde) who make industrial gases. As a result of that job I spent a lot of time in Sweden and the US. I then had 2 years with GKN Aerospace as Finance Director and then moved to Rexam in 2003.

So a manufacturing background really?

Absolutely, I love companies that make things.

You've been head of Plastic Packaging for nearly four years now; what's been your main focus during that time?

The focus has been on creating a leading global Plastic packaging company where we do things that our competitors can't do by leveraging our scale. We couldn't have done any of that without drawing on a strength of Rexam that has been there since the day I walked through the door, which is being an open, friendly and professional company underpinned by the four core values of Rexam - Trust, Teamwork, Recognition and Continuous Improvement

Clearly you're very familiar with Plastics but what experience do you have of Beverage Cans?

Whilst I've been involved in Plastics for the last four years, I spent two years as Group Finance Director and have sat on the Board all these seven years so I am pretty familiar with the fundamentals of the Bev Can business. Of course, I will need to spend time getting up to speed again. It represents two-thirds of Rexam and is essentially our powerhouse. It is a well-run operation with strong and experienced management teams. I am conscious of the fact that it is the most well known part of our business and the one that attracts most of the outside interest.

What opportunities do you see for Rexam going forward?

It is early days yet but I think we've got to say first of all that Rexam is a strong and well-invested company; we have leading positions in attractive markets around the world both in Beverage Cans and Plastics. In 2009 we took some very tough actions to re-base the company, both its cost base and its financial position, so I believe we're well placed to take advantage of future opportunities. Without going into too much detail at this early stage, we will be focusing on cash generation, cost control and capital returns. And if we can do that successfully and consistently then it will flow into creating shareholder value, which is our ultimate aim.

So it's a focus on the fundamentals of the business?

Absolutely.