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Defence and aerospace giant Babcock International Group Plc has poached another senior executive from defence firm Cobham Plc with David Mellors now announced as its new chief financial officer.

Mr Mellors, who will join the company as CFO designate on November 1, 2020, follows his former boss, David Lockwood, who quit Cobham to become chief executive of Babcock this year.

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Mr Mellors will officially take over as CFO on November 30, when his predecessor Franco Martinelli steps down from the board. He had announced his intention to retire in July.

In December 2019 it was reported that Mr Lockwood and Mr Mellors were in line to share a £10million shares bonanza when Dorset-based Cobham was taken over by US private equity venture Advent International in a £4billion deal approved by the Government.

Now, less than a year later, the men will be working together at Babcock, which controls the huge dockyards at Rosyth in Scotland and Devonport in Plymouth.

At Cobham, one of the º£½ÇÊÓƵ's largest defence companies, Mr Mellors played a leading role in the transformation of the group's performance and financial strength.

The company – best known for its in-air refuelling technology – has 10,000 employees, with 1,700 in the º£½ÇÊÓƵ.