Reuters appoints Irish chairman

World news and information provider, Reuters, has appointed Irishman Niall FitzGerald KBE, as its new chairman.

FitzGerald has been a non-executive director of Reuters since 1 January 2003.

Reuters said FitzGerald would become chairman on October 1, succeeding Sir Christopher A Hogg, who retires from the position after 18 years.

Fitzgerald has been Chairman and Chief Executive of Unilever since 1996, announced last month his intention to step down from those roles on 30 September 2004.

FitzGerald has worked for Unilever for thirty-seven years.

He has previously been a non-executive director of Merck, Ericsson, Bank of Ireland and the Prudential Corporation.

He is also currently chairman of the Conference Board, president of the Advertising Association, co-chair of the Transatlantic Business Dialogue and a member of the Foundation Board of The World Economic Forum.

The Reuters board hopes to chart a return to growth after a sharp industry downturn, and a heavy slide in revenues over the past two years.