ANN Budge, chairman Heart of Midlothian Football Club, is stepping down as non-executive director of Calnex, the Linlithgow-based telecommunications testing specialist.

Ms Budge was an early investor in the company and was “pivotal” in bringing in the Discovery Investment Fund syndicate as investors when the group raised seed investment in 2007.

READ MORE: Hitachi Rail is latest company to move into Glasgow's Citizen building

The company said Ms Budge, who will be retiring as a non-executive director of Calnex on February 28, had made a “significant contribution” to the business. It highlighted the support she had provided to chief executive Tommy Cook as he sought to establish Calnex in the test and measurement sector.

Calnex floated on the junior alternative investment market in 2020.

The company has appointed Helen Kelisky, currently managing director of Google Cloud in the UK and Ireland, as a non-executive director. Ms Kelisky, who has more than 30 years of technology sales leadership experience, was previously a board member and vice president of cloud sales at Salesforce UKI, and vice president of cloud at IBM.

READ MORE: Hospitality firms defy challenges to invest in major Scottish city

Stephen Davidson, non-executive chairman of Calnex, said: “We are excited to welcome Helen to the Board. Her experience across the cloud and data centre world will undoubtedly be of immense value to Calnex as we exploit the growth in the testing market, with the need for greater efficiency and performance in data centre operations.

"On behalf of Tommy and the rest of the Board, I would like to thank Ann for the valuable role she has played in Calnex's growth journey, helping to establish a solid platform to support the Group's financial and strategic ambitions, and we wish her well for the future."

Ms Budge transferred her majority shareholding in Hearts to the club’s supporters in 2021.