HSBC finance chief Iain Mackay to join drug maker GSK

GSK chief executive Emma Walmsley has found a further key recruit by hiring HSBC’S finance chief Iain Mackay to her top team.

Mr Mackay, 56, will join Britain’s biggest drug maker as chief financial officer in January next year and will oversee a deep cost-cutting drive at GSK.

Ms Walmsley unveiled a £1.7bn, three-year restructuring in half-year results last month, with the aim of achieving annual savings of £400m. Cash will be reinvested into sharpening the company’s drug pipeline.

GSK had previously announced that its finance chief, Simon Dingemans, would be retiring next year. The former Goldman Sachs banker will stay on to deliver the 2018 financial results before handing over full responsibility to Mr Mackay on April 1 next year.

Mr Mackay is the latest in a string of senior recruits that Ms Walmsley has made since taking the helm at GSK last year from Sir Andrew Witty.

Other recent arrivals include Luke Miels, poached from rival drug maker Astrazeneca to run GSK’S underperforming pharmaceutical division, and Hal Barron, a renowned US drug developer hired as chief scientific officer and head of research and development.