Dr Rajagopal is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and a Member of the Council of Science and Technology, the Prime Ministerial advisory body, playing an active role in Government science and innovation policy. Among his other roles, he is a non-executive director of Dyson Group plc and, until 2006, was chief executive of BOC Edwards and an executive director of BOC Group plc.

Atkin's chairman Ed Wallis said: "I am delighted to welcome Raj to the Board. He brings extensive experience of trading outside of the UK and has formidable knowledge of the technology sector.