Yorkshireman Sir George named as the new chairman of Smiths Group

Sir George, who holds both British and United States citizenship, will replace Donald Brydon, who retires at the company’s AGM in November.

He has held executive positions in a number of mainly US companies and stepped down as the chairman and chief executive of US manufacturing group 3M last year.

Mr Brydon said: “I am delighted that Smiths Group has been able to attract someone of the calibre of Sir George. The board and company as a whole will benefit greatly from his expertise in engineering and innovation and his unparalleled experience of multi-industry businesses that operate in global markets.”

Sir George was the only British chief executive of a Fortune 500 company and the first non-American to be made head of 3M, which aims to make 30 per cent of its sales from products launched during the past four years.

He was born in Pitsmoor in 1947 and was inspired to study electrical engineering by working on what is now Sheffield Hallam University’s Owen Building as a teenager. He studied at Sheffield Technical College, gained a BSc in Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Huddersfield Polytechnic and a PhD in Engineering from Southampton University.

He left the UK for America at the age of 31 and, prior to joining 3M he was chief technology officer for the motors, drives, and appliances division of the Emerson Electric Company and chairman and chief executive of Brunswick Corporation, which manufactures sporting and fitness equipment, boats and marine engines.

Sir George is chairman of Arle Capital Partners, Expro Americas and Expro International Group, and has served as a director of Stanley Black & Decker and Pepsico, among other companies.

He lent his name to the 3M Buckley Innovation Centre, a Huddersfield University subsidiary aimed at hi-tech businesses.

Smiths last month said it received an approach for its medical division, said to be worth £2bn.