Office rental firm IWG appoints Charlie Steel as CFO

(Reuters) -IWG Plc said on Wednesday Charlie Steel has been appointed its next chief financial officer and will join the office rental firm's board before the end of this year.

The move comes weeks after the group's first-half results failed to impress the market amid concerns of a gloomy economic outlook hampering the recovery of the office space sector.

Steel joins IWG from U.S.-listed digital health delivery and AI diagnosis business Babylon Holdings, and has worked as global head of corporate development at CMC Markets and served as vice president in the investment banking division at Deutsche Bank AG.

Steel will replace Glyn Hughes, who plans to undertake the role of a chief executive officer in a non-listed company.

Switzerland-based IWG is currently fighting another challenge, as its debt level rose 6% to nearly 7.2 billion pounds ($8.50 billion) in the six months ended June 30, equivalent to over 5.5 times its revenue.

($1 = 0.8470 pounds)

(Reporting by Aby Jose Koilparambil in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)