New Chief Operating Officer announced for Roq

As Roq continues its strategic growth trajectory and vision to become the UK’s leading Quality Engineering consultancy, the company has today announced the appointment of Sarah Jane Riggott to the newly created role of Chief Operating Officer (COO).

Sarah has been promoted into the new role having been with Roq since 2014. The move follows a highly successful tenure, as part of the leadership team and driving the company’s People team, where her focus has been on employee engagement and career support, as well as training and wellbeing – the bedrock for Roq’s recent IIP Platinum accreditation. This next step in her career recognises her leadership capabilities, experience and expertise in another critical role for the company, where the responsibility is on optimising business functions, achieving strategic goals and attaining operational excellence across the business.

CEO of Roq, Stephen Johnson, said “Sarah is an exemplar of professionalism, and her career progression has been one of continuous improvement - which is reflective of how the company operates.”

“Sarah’s appointment into this new role comes at a critical time for the business. Roq is on a significant growth journey and we’re projecting to at least double in size over the next three years. Her appointment in this key role is to ensure we embrace the exciting changes, whilst guaranteeing our clients and our employees remain a key focus.

“Sarah has consistently demonstrated outstanding capabilities over the last eight years since joining Roq, and lives and breathes our values like no other. As a leader, I am passionate about creating an environment where every person has a clear career path within the organisation, so this is a great opportunity for Sarah to stretch her capabilities and utilise all the expertise and skills she has developed as part of the Roq Leadership team.  I have every confidence she will be brilliant in the role, driving the growth strategy with acute precision and passion,” said Johnson.

Sarah Jane Riggott said the appointment demonstrated Roq’s clear focus on its people and the very real pathway for progression within the business.

“I am fortunate to have grown my career with an organisation that truly embraces growth – both that of the business and of its people. Each of my roles at Roq have been newly established due to a growing need within the business, allowing me to become very much a part of shaping the company’s future.”

Riggott added, “The COO position is an integral role, needing to be the ‘the steady force’ integrating the leadership team, creating organisational clarity, communication and consistency. I feel proud my capabilities and achievements to date have positioned me as the ideal candidate to deliver on that. I am looking forward to making things happen, delivering quality outcomes and taking our great internal culture externally to our clients, so every experience of Roq is exceptional.”

Sarah now begins a period of transition before the appointment officially commences in October 2023.

Sarah's appointment in this key role is to ensure we embrace the exciting changes, whilst guaranteeing our clients and our employees remain a key focus.