Jonathan Symonds succeeds Jean-François van Boxmeer as Chair of ERT
Gothenburg, 19 May 2026: At the ERT Plenary in Gothenburg yesterday, the Members of the European Round Table for Industry elected a new Chair of the organisation for a two-year term: Sir Jonathan Symonds CBE, the Chairman of GSK.
A Member of the organisation since 2021, Sir Jonathan succeeds Jean-François van Boxmeer, Chair of Vodafone Group in the role at the helm of ERT. He will be supported by two Vice-Chairs who have also been newly elected: Guillaume Faury, CEO of Airbus and Leonhard Birnbaum, CEO of E.ON.
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A British national, Sir Jonathan has been Co-Chair of ERT’s Committee on R&D, Innovation & Skills. He is the 12th person to take on the role of ERT Chair and the first to bring extensive experience in finance, corporate governance and life sciences to the role. He continues in his role as Chairman at GSK in parallel to his duties at ERT.
More about ERT’s new Chair
Sir Jonathan has served as Chair of GSK since 2019, overseeing the company’s transformation into a focused biopharmaceutical business and is widely recognised for his ability to guide complex, science‑led organisations through periods of strategic change.
His executive background includes senior financial roles at AstraZeneca and Novartis, and earlier experience as a Partner and Managing Director at Goldman Sachs and a Partner at KPMG. He has also held major governance roles in global financial services, including as Deputy Group Chairman and Audit Committee Chair of HSBC Holdings, and brings additional public‑interest and policy insight through his work with Genomics England, Chatham House, and the European Round Table for Industry.
Listen to the ERT podcast interview with him, about his life, career and outlook here. His biography is available here.
With its 60-strong membership of CEOs and Chairs of some of Europe’s most significant industrial and technology companies, the European Round Table for Industry has long been recognised as an important high-level forum. With its cross-sectoral Membership, ERT focuses on pillars of European competitiveness: R&D, innovation & skills; energy transition & climate industry; industrial & competition policy; tech, ai & data; security, defence & dual-use, single market completion and trade & economic security.
ENDS
At this moment of profound economic, technological and geopolitical change, Europe needs to be bold and be more focussed on delivery – policy papers and rhetoric will not get Europe to the competitiveness, resilience and security it needs to achieve. I feel a real urgency and see ERT as a critical partner in this endeavour. ERT brings together industrial and technological leaders with the scale, experience and worldview to help European policymakers make the right choices to support innovation, bolster competitiveness and deliver long‑term prosperity for its citizens. I am honoured to take on the role of Chair and my priority will be to ensure that business insight is firmly connected to Europe’s policy ambitions - and that it delivers on those ambitions.
He added “On behalf of the entire ERT membership, I pay tribute to my predecessor Jean-François his sterling efforts to maintain ERT’s role as an indispensable interlocutor at EU level – bringing insights to overcome the 2022 energy crisis, laying the foundations for the Letta and Draghi reports and championing their implementation.’
I am proud to have led ERT these past four years – a period that has underscored both the scale of the challenges facing Europe and the urgent need for response. With the direction that has been so clearly articulated by Draghi and Letta, the imperative is now swift implementation. There’s no better man than Jon to lead the charge!