OXFORD: SQW Group, owners of Oxford Innovation, has appointed Sir Michael Lyons and Sir William Wells as non-executive directors.

The duo have been taken on to help with plans to develop two new business areas focused on healthcare and the environment, as well as with the expansion of existing services. Both directors will also take equity stakes in the company.

Sir Michael Lyons is currently completing a high profile review on the future of local government and finance structures, and was responsible for the 2004 Lyons Review of Public Sector relocation for the Treasury.

Sir William Wells is chairman of the NHS Appointments Committee, which he established in 2001. He is also chairman of the Health Service Commercial Advisory Board, which advises ministers on the effects of policy in the private sector, and previously spent 34 years with Chesterton chartered surveyors where he became managing partner and then chairman.