New CEO for listed construction and property business
Sheffield-headquartered construction and property investment company, Henry Boot, is to appoint Tim Roberts as its new Chief Executive.
Current CEO, John Sutcliffe, will continue to lead the company until the end of 2019, before Roberts starts in the position on 1 January 2020.
Sutcliffe will remain in an advisory position with the listed firm until the conclusion of the AGM on 21 May 2020, at which point he will retire and step down from the board.
Roberts – originally from Sheffield – has spent 15 years running British Land’s office team as well as developing the strategy for its London office business; moving its focus towards more mixed-use campuses and retaining and attracting target customers.
He has been responsible for overseeing large scale developments, transactions and lettings such as the joint venture development and the eventual sale of both the Leadenhall Building and 5 Broadgate, as well as lettings to customers including Facebook, UBS and Dentsu Aegis.
Roberts has also led major transactions such as the purchase of Paddington Campus, and the super prime Clarges development site, which was fundamental in expanding British Land’s London residential business.
Chairman Jamie Boot said: “The Board has conducted a rigorous selection process, with an external recruitment partner, during which both internal and external candidates were assessed for the role.
“We are delighted that this has resulted in the appointment of Tim, who stood out from our list of strong candidates due to his track record of success in property investment and development and his delivery of long-term value creation.
“On behalf of the Board, I want to thank John for his dedication, professionalism and personal commitment through his time with Henry Boot and wish him well in his retirement. Under John’s leadership, Henry Boot has undergone important and necessary change and is now a stronger group.”
Roberts added: “I am very excited to be joining such a long-standing, well established business which, over the years, has generated strong financial performance.
“Henry Boot is in very good shape and I am joining a team that will not only continue to deliver strong returns, but also a business that has the organisational and capital structure to prosper. On a personal note, as a Yorkshire man, I am very happy to be returning to my home city of Sheffield.”
John Sutcliffe
Sutcliffe said: “Since I joined Henry Boot in 2006, we have significantly increased the scale of the business and built a much larger future opportunity portfolio of profitable schemes, and I am proud of the value we have created for all our stakeholders.
“I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Henry Boot and, at 61, it is an appropriate time to hand over my responsibilities to Tim, who I am sure will make a great success of the role.”
In March, Henry Boot announced its full year results, which saw its revenues and profits dip in a year of “economic uncertainty and global political tension.”
Publishing its annual results for the year ended 31 December 2018, the listed firm saw pre-tax profits drop from £55.4m in 2017 to £48.6m; and revenues drop from £408.5m to £397.1m.
During the year, the firm had to pay a “one-off” £1.5m pension provision payment after a high court ruling stating that firms needed to equalise payments between male and female employees.
The firm has three divisions – Land Promotion (Hallam Land Management); Property Investment & Development (Henry Boot Developments and Stonebridge Homes); and Construction (Henry Boot Construction, Banner Plant and Road Link A69).
