New chairman to join property firm from Bovis Homes
Brownfield regeneration and property investment firm Harworth has appointed current Bovis Homes deputy chairman Alastair Lyons to its board.
Alastair Lyons CBE will become a non-executive director and chairman of the Board at Sheffield-based Harworth, from 7 March 2018.
He will succeed Jonson Cox who is retiring from the Board on 31 March 2018 after more than seven years as chairman.
Lyons brings strong business and governance experience to the role. Earlier this year he retired as non-executive chairman of Admiral Group, a role he had held since 2000.
He is currently non-executive chairman of Welsh Water (Dwr Cymru) and deputy chairman of Bovis Homes Group, from which he will retire at Bovis Homes’ next Annual General Meeting, having joined its Board in 2008.
In the previous five years, he has also been non-executive chairman of Serco Group plc (retired 2015) and senior independent director at the Phoenix Group (retired 2013).
Prior to undertaking non-executive director roles, he built an extensive executive career, including as chief executive of both the National Provident Institution and the National & Provincial Building Society and director of corporate projects at NatWest.
Lyons said: “I am delighted to have the opportunity to chair a business that plays such an important role in regenerating former industrial areas into thriving residential and business communities. Harworth has gone from strength to strength since it was divested from UK Coal in 2012 and continues to grow its profile after being relisted in 2015. I look forward to supporting the business in achieving its vision to be the leading brownfield regeneration company in the North of England and the Midlands.”
Lisa Clement, Harworth’s senior independent director, commented: “Following a thorough selection process, we are delighted to have found a chairman, in Alastair, with such extensive experience and enthusiasm for the business.
“On behalf of the Board I would also like to put on record our thanks to Jonson. Over the last seven years, his leadership of the Board has helped transform Harworth from a non-core property division within a mining business to the successful, listed regeneration and property investment specialist it is today, delivering strong returns for shareholders along the way.”
Cox added: “It has been a privilege to bring Harworth into being in 2012 from the former UK Coal plc, and to see the business perform so strongly since that time with a solid platform in place and a clear strategy for growth. Now is the time for a new chairman to take the business forward, and it will be in good hands with Alastair. I wish the business every success in the future.”
