In a brief statement the papermaker and advanced materials specialist said that Watson would leave the group on 1 August.

“The board would like to take this opportunity to thank Dave for his services over the last six years and wish him well for the future,” James Cropper said.

There was no further information available at the time of writing about whether Watson would be replaced, or about his future plans.

Watson joined James Cropper at the beginning of 2014 and prior to that worked at 3M.

Watson had overall responsibility for group operations and reported to CEO Phil Wild.