Alan Giddins takes Executive Chair role at Hill and Smith

He is set to take the role for an expected period of 12 to 18 months at the group which includes Hill and Smith Barrier at Springvale Business Park, Bilston.

Mr Giddins has been undertaking the role since July 2022 on an interim basis while the Group searched for a new Chief Executive Officer.

Since July 2022, the Board has undertaken an extensive search process that has identified many strong candidates who have been excited by the Group's prospects.

However, the company, which has its headquarters at Shirley, was not able to find a candidate that met its criteria at the current time.

Tony Quinlan, Senior Independent Non-Executive Director, will take on the role of Chair of the Nominations Committee from Mr Giddins, who remains on the Committee.

Tony Quinlan, Senior Independent Non-Executive Director, said: "The Board is delighted that Alan has agreed to take the role for a period of 12 to 18 months, which we unanimously believe is in the best interests of the company to provide continuity and stability.

"Since Alan's appointment as interim Executive Chair in July 2022, the Group has delivered record profits through successfully executing on its organic growth strategy, while also making significant progress on portfolio management including a major disposal and a series of high quality acquisitions.

"The Board remains committed to finding a permanent Chief Executive Officer and will restart a process in due course to assess both internal and external candidates".

The group has also provided a trading update for four month period to April 30.

The Group said it has delivered a record trading performance in the period, with 18% constant currency revenue growth and strong profit growth against a relatively soft 2022 comparator.

The current company compiled analyst consensus expectation for 2023 is for underlying operating profit of £107.0m with a range of £105.2m-£110.2m.