Industry leaders Jonathan Ling and Jim Fox join PI Board

PI has welcomed two experienced company leaders to the PI Board, with Jonathan Ling appointed chairman and Jim Fox joining as a non-executive director.

Jonathan has extensive experience leading complex manufacturing businesses, having held CEO roles at GUD, Fletcher Building and Laminex Industries.

Jim Fox is a veteran of the medtech industry, having led Vision Systems as CEO from 1993 until its sale to Danaher in 2007.

Co-CEO and co-founder Stuart Elliott said having such accomplished business leaders join the Board would help PI as it continued to pursue its growth strategy, including further expansion of instrument and consumable manufacturing, and rapid growth of its venture businesses.

“Jonathan and Jim bring a wealth of directly relevant experience to our board having both been successful leaders and hands-on CEOs of highly successful companies over many decades,” Stuart said.

“We are excited to add the combined wisdom and practical business acumen of Jonathan and Jim to our board, and look forward to their input as we transition PI to its next phase of growth.”

Profile: Jonathan Ling

Jonathan is an experienced company leader with a strong track record in complex manufacturing businesses, having held Chief Executive roles at GUD (2013-2018), Fletcher Building (2006-2012) and Laminex Industries (2003-2006).

During his time as CEO of GUD the market capitalization grew from A$360m to more than $1.2bn and the share price from around $5 to over $14. During his time as CEO at Fletcher Building, its market capitalization grew from around NZ$2.5 bn to NZ$4.8bn.

Jonathan is also Chairman and non-executive director of ASX-listed Pro-Pac Packaging and a non-executive director of Pact.

Jonathan said: “I’m excited to join PI at a time when the company is embarking on taking its innovation and commercialization to the next level of scale and capitalization. PI has some exciting new ventures on the cusp of final commercialization and scale-up.”

Profile: Jim Fox

Jim Fox has extensive experience leading global technology and healthcare businesses.

He led the start-up of product development company Invetech in the 1980s. When Invetech merged with ASX-listed Vision Systems in 1993, Jim took over as CEO of the combined entity. He held that role until January 2007, when Vision Systems, by then a global cancer diagnostics company, was successfully sold to Danaher for $816 million.

Jim is currently a non-executive director of NASDAQ-listed GenMark Diagnostics, having served as chairman of the board from 2014 until February 2020. He is also a non-executive director of TTP Group, a privately held company based in the UK. Jim has previously sat on the boards of Air New Zealand, Novasyte, and Biota Pharmaceuticals.

Jim, who has worked closely with much of the PI leadership team at Vision Systems, said he was looking forward to being involved at Planet Innovation.

“Planet Innovation, as recent events have highlighted, is the sort of technology and manufacturing business which is much needed in the re-engineering of the Australian economy going forward,” Jim said.