New CEO appointed at Safestyle
The chief executive of Bradford-based Safestyle is to leave the firm by the end of 2018, as the firm announced this morning that a successor has been appointed.
The listed firm said that in accordance with senior management succession plans, chief executive Steve Birmingham would retire from the board and the company by the end of 2018.
Mike Gallacher has been announced as Birmingham’s successor as group chief executive. He will join the board as CEO today, with Birmingham remaining as an executive director of the company “to ensure an orderly handover and to see certain ongoing projects through to conclusion.”
The announcement comes just a week after the window retailer and manufacturer issued a stark profit warning after competitor activity has “intensified” and resulted in a very weak order intake.
The firm said the beginning of the year had been difficult with a continuing deterioration in the market resulting from declining consumer confidence and “an aggressive new market entrant.”
Gallacher, aged 52, has over 20 years’ commercial and operational experience of building and managing businesses in the UK and internationally. He brings significant expertise in operational strategy, business development and performance improvement.
He was most recently CEO of First Milk, the UK major dairy company owned by British family farms, where he developed and implemented a major restructuring and turnaround strategy that delivered a £30m improvement in business profitability in 24 months.
Prior to First Milk, Gallacher held a number of senior roles at Mars, including UK managing director for Mars Petcare. He also led significant business turnarounds in Asia for Mars, as well as working in regional leadership positions across both Asia Pacific and Europe. Prior to Mars, he was a British Army Officer for eight years.
Peter Richardson, non-executive chairman of Safestyle, said: “Steve has been instrumental in the Company’s growth over the last 19 years and I would like to take this opportunity on behalf of the Board to thank him for his significant contribution. I am pleased that he will be remaining in the business to ensure a suitable period of continuity and an orderly handover to his successor.
“Mike is a great addition to the Safestyle team and I am pleased that he has agreed to join the Board. His leadership qualities and commercial and operational experience, particularly in relation to performance improvement, will be invaluable to the business at this stage in its development.”
Mike Gallacher, incoming CEO, “I am delighted to be joining Safestyle and look forward to working with Steve and the wider team to assess how best to take the business forward in the current trading environment. Safestyle has good growth potential and I am excited about the challenges and opportunities ahead.”
