Appointment of Chair

RWS Holdings PLC

17 September 2026

 

For immediate release                                                                                       17 September 2026

RWS Holdings plc ("RWS", "the Group")

 Appointment of Chair

RWS Holdings plc (AIM: RWS.L), a global AI solutions company, announces the appointment of Patrick De Smedt as independent Non-Executive Director and Chair of RWS with effect from 8 October 2026.

Patrick, who will also become Chair of the Nomination Committee, brings a wealth of experience across the international technology sector, including leading businesses through strategic shifts. The appointment follows a comprehensive search process, considering a wide range of candidates.

Patrick (71) served as Non-Executive Chair of Bytes Technology Group ("BTG") plc until retiring from its board on 4 September 2026. He is currently non-executive chair of two private-equity-backed companies, Node4 Ltd, a managed IT services provider and the Rent Company B.V., a provider of educational technology services. He has also served as chair and non-executive director of a diverse range of European public and private-equity-backed companies, including EMIS Group plc, Victrex plc, Morgan Sindall plc, PageGroup plc, Anite plc and KCOM Group plc.

In his executive career, Patrick spent 23 years at Microsoft, founding the company's Benelux subsidiaries and leading the development of its Western European business. His time at Microsoft culminated in his role as chairman of its Europe, Middle East and Africa operations.

On Patrick's appointment Andrew Brode will step down from his role as interim Chair and will remain a Non-Executive Director.  

Gordon Stuart, interim Senior Independent Director of RWS, commented:

"We are delighted to welcome Patrick to the Board of RWS after a thorough search process. His longstanding and strong record across the international technology sector, and deep experience across executive and non-executive roles, is an ideal fit as RWS accelerates its growth in AI products and services. Patrick understands how to successfully make technology transitions and the Group looks forward to benefiting from his expertise as it delivers its vision to become the cultural intelligence layer for enterprise AI.

"We would like to thank Andrew for his leadership as interim Chairman over the last nine months and we are pleased that we will continue to benefit from his wise counsel as a Non-Executive Director."

Patrick De Smedt added:

"I am delighted to be joining RWS at such an exciting time in its development. It is clear that the Group is already making strong progress on its vision, underpinned by powerful technologies, strong partnerships, a talented team and a market need for its solutions. I look forward to working with the Board to deliver on its strategy for value creation."

Directorships

Other than the directorships listed below, there is no further information required to be disclosed pursuant to paragraph (g) of Schedule 2 of the AIM Rules for Companies in relation to Patrick De Smedt's appointment to the Board.

Patrick holds or has held directorships in the five years preceding his appointment at RWS as follows:

Current appointments:

Abacus Topco B.V. (The Rent Company Group)

Atten Group Limited (trading as Node4)

The Chancellery Residents Company Ltd

18 St James Management Company Ltd

Appointments held in past five years:

Bytes Technology Group plc

EMIS Group plc

Kodak Alaris Holdings Ltd

Nasstar Holdings Ltd

PageGroup plc

For further information, please contact:

RWS Benjamin Faes, Chief Executive Officer Stephen Lamb, Chief Financial Officer	01628 410100
MHP (Financial PR adviser) Katie Hunt / Eleni Menikou	[e-mail] 07884 494112
Deutsche Numis (Nomad & Joint Broker) Stuart Skinner / William Wickham	020 7260 1000
Berenberg (Joint Broker) Ben Wright / Toby Flaux / Mike Burke / Milo Bonser	020 3207 7800

About RWS:

RWS is a global AI solutions company empowering the world's most trusted enterprise AI.

Our proprietary Cultural Intelligence Layer, powered by 250,000 data specialists, cultural and language experts and deep domain professionals, backed by 45+ patents, makes enterprise AI culturally fluent, contextually accurate and secure, ensuring every interaction reflects a brand's tone, context and customer values.

Through our Generate, Transform and Protect segments, we deliver intelligent content, enterprise knowledge, large-scale localisation and IP protection for global growth. Trusted by 80+ of the world's top 100 brands, RWS provides the confidence, governance and expertise organisations need to deploy AI safely, responsibly and at scale.

Headquartered in the UK, RWS is listed on AIM (RWS.L).

For further information, please visit: www.rws.com

 

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