Weir Group’s company secretary and general counsel Keith Ruddock plans to retire from the engineering business at the end of this year.

Mr Ruddock, originally from Ireland, had spent around 20 years in legal roles at Shell around the world before joining Glasgow based Weir in 2012.

He also sits on the group executive board.

A spokesman for the company said: "Weir has a long-established succession planning process for its senior roles and we fully expect to appoint a new general counsel and company secretary before the end of the year.

"We would like to thank Keith for his contribution to the success of the group and wish him well in his retirement."

Mr Ruddock’s deputy at Weir is former Balfour Beatty lawyer Christopher Morgan.