Jackson-Smith in as Bglobal chief Barnes quits
AIM-listed smart metering company Bglobal announced the sudden departure of chief executive Tony Barnes today, as it warned the City it would install 10% fewer devices than had been hoped.
Mr Barnes, a charismatic broadcaster with Granada TV who moved to Australia and took an MBA before returning to this country, had been with Darwen, Lancashire-based Bglobal for more than two years.
In a brief statement the company said Mr Barnes had “decided that now is an appropriate time for him to leave the Group in order to pursue other interests.”
He is being replaced by former corporate lawyer Tim Jackson-Smith, who has been with the business as commercial director and general counsel since leaving Manchester law firm Halliwells last year.
The statement added: “The board would like to thank Tony for all his hard work and commitment to the Group over the last two years and wish him well for the future.”
A spokesman for Bglobal said Mr Barnes’ departure was “not connected” to the trading update.
The company said John Furness, who is currently the managing director of Utiligroup – which was acquired earlier this year – was moving up to take on the role of group sales director.
Regarding trading, Bglobal said installations of meters had been slow in the first quarter,but was not improved, but there would be a higher cost of delivering this improvement.
“The board is revising its installation expectations for the year downwards by 10 per cent. and anticipates that it will raise operating costs to ensure that it maintains and increases the current installation rate, and this will impact on Bglobal Metering’s contribution to group performance in FY11.
New chief executive Tim Jackson-Smith, said: “The group continues to deliver further improvement in its trading performance whilst continuing to plan for future developments in the industry.
“The business has been profitable and cash generative during the period and we are confident in our ability to deliver further growth in revenues and profitability throughout the rest of this financial year.”
