Michael James Roney (born July 13, 1954) is an American businessman. He was the chief executive of

Bunzl Bunzl Public Limited Company is a British multinational distribution and outsourcing company headquartered in London, England. The activities of the company have changed a number of times during its existence, frequently incorporating the dis ...

plc, a British multinational distribution and

outsourcing Outsourcing is a business practice in which companies use external providers to carry out business processes that would otherwise be handled internally. Outsourcing sometimes involves transferring employees and assets from one firm to another ...

company, from 2005 to 2016. He has been the chairman of

Next plc Next plc, trading as Next (styled as NEXT) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational clothing, footwear and home products retailer, which has its headquarters in Enderby, Leicestershire, Enderby, England. It has around 700 stores, of ...

and

Grafton Group Grafton Group plc is a builders merchants business based in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange, and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. History The company was established by William Chadwick as Chadwi ...

since 2017.

Early life

Michael Roney was born on July 13, 1954. He was educated in Roman Catholic private schools in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, Michigan. He graduated with an MBA from the

Stephen M. Ross School of Business The University of Michigan Ross School of Business (branded as Michigan Ross) is the business school of the University of Michigan, a Public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The school was originally established ...

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

in 1981.

Career

Roney began his career as an accountant from 1978 to 1980. He worked for the

Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company is an American multinational tire manufacturer headquartered in Akron, Ohio. Goodyear manufactures tires for passenger vehicles, aviation, commercial trucks, military and police vehicles, motorcycles, recreati ...

from 1981 to 2005. Roney became a non-executive director of Bunzl in June 2003. In October 2005 he became CEO. He stood down as CEO in April 2016, and was succeeded by

Frank van Zanten Frank Andre van Zanten (born 26 February 1967) is a Dutch businessman, the CEO of Bunzl since April 2016. Early life Frank Andre van Zanten was born on 26 February 1967. He has an MBA degree from the Rotterdam School of Management. Career Van ...

. Roney was a non-executive director of

Johnson Matthey Johnson Matthey plc is a British multinational speciality chemicals and sustainable technologies company headquartered in London, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. History Early year ...

plc from 2007 until 2014 and is a non-executive director of Brown-Forman Corporation. In July 2016, Roney became a non-executive director of Azelis Group, the global

speciality chemicals Specialty chemicals (also called specialties or effect chemicals) are particular chemical products that provide a wide variety of effects on which many other industry sectors rely. Some of the categories of speciality chemicals are adhesives, agri ...

distributor. Roney has been the chairman of

(succeeding John Barton) and

since 2017.

Personal life

Roney met his future wife in Argentina. They have four children, and reside in

St John's Wood St John's Wood is a district in the London Borough of Camden, London Boroughs of Camden and the City of Westminster, London, England, about 2.5 miles (4 km) northwest of Charing Cross. Historically the northern part of the Civil Parish#An ...

, London.

References

1954 births Living people American expatriates in England American chief executives American accountants American corporate directors Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company people Businesspeople from Detroit People from St John's Wood Ross School of Business alumni 20th-century American businesspeople Bunzl people {{UK-business-bio-1950s-stub