Oxford Metrics plc has appointed Stefan Lampa as chief executive officer and as a director of the company. The smart sensing and measurement technology group, which is headquartered in Oxford in the United Kingdom, disclosed the appointment in a regulatory announcement dated 7 September 2026. Lampa is expected to take up the role from early December 2026.
Gary Bullard, non-executive chair of Oxford Metrics, will act as interim chief executive officer until the appointment takes effect, ensuring continuity of leadership while the group continues to execute its stated strategy.
The change follows the decision of Imogen O'Connor to step down as chief executive officer and from the board with immediate effect for health reasons. As part of an orderly transition, she will remain available to support the group on certain key projects and on the handover through to the end of 2026, and will then be available to consult to the group on an ad hoc basis as required.
Lampa's appointment is subject to the completion of normal regulatory due diligence by the group's nominated adviser and to him obtaining the right to work in the United Kingdom. Oxford Metrics said a further announcement would be made in due course.
He joins with international leadership experience across robotics, automation and industrial technology. He was most recently chief executive officer of ProGlove, a provider of smart wearable scanner solutions for industrial applications. At ProGlove he led a shift towards software, data and AI-enabled solutions and moved the business from a capex sales model to a SaaS model, a change the company said delivered improved profitability and annual revenue growth of 30 per cent.
Earlier in his career he held senior roles at Cargotec, KUKA Robotics and ABB Robotics, including chief executive officer of KUKA Robotics and global head of robots and applications at ABB Robotics.
Oxford Metrics was founded in 1984 and serves thousands of customers in more than 70 countries. It trades through two divisions. Vicon Motion Systems provides motion measurement analysis to customers in healthcare, entertainment and engineering markets, while its vision metrology division supplies machine vision software and high precision automated quality control systems to manufacturers in medical devices, pharmaceuticals, aerospace, automotive and precision engineering. The group has offices in the United Kingdom, Ireland, the United States and Germany.
The commercial logic of the appointment rests on that second division and on the wider automation market. Precision, automation and measurement are becoming more important to the vision metrology business, and the board has said that Lampa's background in robotics and automation aligns with growing opportunities for the group's sensing, software and data capabilities across robotics, simulation, sport, healthcare and AI-enabled applications.
Bullard said the company has outstanding technology, exceptional people and strong market positions, and that the board believes Lampa is well placed to lead the group through its next phase of development. He added that the strategy and medium term ambitions set out at the company's recent investor event provide a clear framework for growth.
Lampa said the company was a remarkable brand, trusted globally in demanding applications where precision and data quality matter. He pointed to the growth of robotics, AI-enabled workflows and human-machine interaction as creating significant opportunities for technologies that capture and apply movement with accuracy.
For shareholders, the near term questions are the length of the handover, which spans the remainder of 2026, and the conditions still attached to the appointment. Until the new chief executive arrives, the chair holds the executive reins at a group that has told the market it intends to accelerate the commercialisation of its sensing, software and data capabilities.
