New leader joins Neo Performance Materials

Neo Performance Materials has appointed John McGarva as an independent director to its board, which will effect before the end of July.

McGarva holds experience working in product development and manufacturing across industries such as healthcare, industrial, and consumer electronics.

McGarva recently retired as head of engineering at Dyson, where he led the design engineering of the company’s whole haircare product line, guiding teams in Singapore, the Philippines, and the UK.

A key element of Dyson haircare products is the integration of permanent magnets, which Hastings Technology Metals – who McGarva was a nominee of – said positions McGarva to offer customer insights and strategic direction to Neo.

Hastings Technology Metals holds a 21.5 per cent strategic shareholding in Neo, a global rare earth processing and advanced permanent magnets producer.

In June 2023, Hastings and Neo signed a non-binding heads of agreement for the supply of rare earth concentrate from the Yangibana rare earths project in Western Australia.

“The appointment of Hastings’ representative nominee, John McGarva, to the board of Neo is a significant milestone in our strategic investment in Neo,” Hastings executive chairman Charles Lew said.

“We are confident John’s experience in product development and manufacturing, most significantly in the use of permanent magnets, will be a valuable asset to Neo as we look to advance synergies with a view to creating a fully integrated mine-to-magnet supply chain.”

Neo board chair Claire Kennedy welcomed McGarva to the company.

“John has a wealth of product design and manufacturing experience that we believe will bring long term value creation to the company,” Kennedy said.

“We look forward to John’s contributions to the work of the board as Neo moves forward with its strategic growth plans.”

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