Halfords announces series of board changes

REDDITCH car maintenance and leisure products retailer Halfords Group has announced a series of board changes.

Helen Jones has joined the board with immediate effect as a non-executive director. She will also be a member of the group’s audit, remuneration and nomination committees.  Ms Jones is currently a senior executive at Caffé Nero and, prior to that, was CEO of the Zizzi Restaurants group and was also responsible for successfully launching the Ben & Jerry ice cream brand in the UK and Europe.
 
The board changes have also seen both Bill Ronald and Keith Harris step down with effect from May 31, 2014.

David Adams has assumed Ronald’s role as senior independent director. Adams has been a member of the remuneration and nomination committees and the chair of the audit committee since joining the board on March 1, 2011.

Claudia Arney will succeed Harris as chair of the remuneration committee with immediate effect. She has been a member of the audit, remuneration and nomination committees since joining the board in January 2011.

Commenting on the appointments, Dennis Millard, chairman of Halfords said: “We would like to thank both Bill and Keith for their support, guidance and friendship over the last nine years. We welcome Helen to Halfords who will bring valuable and relevant marketing and branding experience in consumer focused businesses.”
 

Ocado encouraged by stronger trading

GROCERY delivery group Ocado has said it is encouraged by recent trading, with a 22.6% growth in the business compared with the same period last year.

The group, which has a large distribution hub in Dordon, outside Tamworth, said gross sales for the 12 weeks to February 23, were £227.5m (2013: £185.5m), with average orders per week growing more than 18% to 155,152.

It said there had been solid trading momentum, aided by efficiency improvements to its distribution operations since the end of 2013. Its tie-in with Morrisons was also said to be progressing well.

Tim Steiner, CEO, said: “We are pleased with the continued growth in our business. We remain committed to improving the quality of the offer to customers, which we believe will support further growth.
 
“Having launched on January 10, we are pleased with the operational progress of Morrisons.com, with the service expanded to new geographic catchments in February.
                              
“While we are encouraged by our current trading, the retail environment remains both challenging and competitive, and we expect to continue growing in line with, or slightly ahead of, the market.”
 

Hummingbird encouraged by latest gold reserve estimates

BIRMINGHAM-based Liberian gold exploration firm Hummingbird Resources has said it is encouraged by its latest Mineral Resource Estimate, which shows an increase in the grade of minerals at its Dugbe 1 operation.

Dan Betts, Hummingbird chief executive, said the results were outstanding and had strengthened confidence in the predictable yield from the Tuzon project.

“This predictability supports the company’s belief in the ability to further increase the resource at Tuzon, which remains open in several directions,” he said.
 
“Other work on the (feasibility study) continues to unlock value and progresses well. Exploration efforts at interpreting further near pit resources are ongoing and the original belief that Hummingbird was sitting on one of West Africa’s prime new gold districts seems to be being borne out.   

“We believe that the Dugbe 1 Project now represents one of the largest and one of the most robust undeveloped gold projects in West Africa and continues to demonstrate best in class value to potential investors.”

The company has also received the final $5m tranche of its $15m financing agreement with Anglo Pacific Group.

The final payment takes the cash balance of the company to $10m and means that it is fully funded up to and beyond the completion of the Detailed Feasibility Study, expected in Q3 2014.

Betts added: “Taken alongside the major resource update, this final payment represents another significant step in the de-risking of the Dugbe 1 Project, ensuring that the company is well funded and able to deliver beyond the DFS and continue our exploration success.”