Capita has announced boss Jon Lewis will retire from the outsourcing giant next year.

The London-listed firm said Mr Lewis, who has led the firm since 2017, will step down as chief executive towards the end of this year, and will remain involved in the business until next July to help with its transition.

Adolfo Hernandez, current vice president of global telecommunications at Amazon Web Services, will take over as chief executive.

The firm said Mr Lewis’s departure comes after he told the board last year he was considering his future options, including his eventual retirement.

Jon Lewis, Capita
Jon Lewis is set to step down as CEO by the end of the year (Capita/PA)

The move comes two months after Capita revealed it would take a hit of up to £20 million from a recent cyber attack that saw some customer, supplier and staff data accessed by hackers.

David Lowden, chairman of the company, stressed that Mr Lewis decided to delay his “possible retirement from Capita due to the cyber incident we experienced in March”

He added: “On behalf of the board and everyone at Capita, I would like to offer our sincere thanks to Jon and pay tribute to his significant commitment and achievements at Capita over the past five years.

“He has shown outstanding leadership and determination in rebuilding Capita from the ground up.

“It is now a purpose-led business which Jon has refocused, strengthened and returned to growth, while rebuilding client trust and improving colleague engagement. He should be rightly proud of his achievements.”

Mr Lewis said: “It has been a privilege to lead the turnaround of Capita over the past five years.

“I remain fully committed to delivering the group’s strategy and enabling a smooth transition to Adolfo as the new CEO over the coming months.”