British polymer dispersions and synthetic latex specialist Synthomer (London; www.synthomer.com) is getting a new boss: the company’s board of directors has announced the appointment of Michael Willome as CEO. The 54-year-old is to succeed Calum MacLean on 1 November 2021.

Willome spent just over five years as CEO of Swiss conglomerate Bystronic (formerly Conzzeta, Niederönz; www.bystronic.com/en), which has 5,200 employees and a turnover of CHF 1.6 bn (EUR 1.49 bn). Previously, the Swiss-born executive worked at Clariant for 18 years, most recently as head of the global Industrial & Consumer Specialities division.

The Synthomer group, which employs around 2,750 people and had sales of GBP 1.674 bn (EUR 1.9 bn) in 2020, made headlines three years ago on suspicion of Europe-wide antitrust violations (see Plasteurope.com of 11.06.2018). However, nothing has been made public about the outcome of proceedings initiated by the EU.