Colin Drummond, chief executive of Viridor, is set to retire after twenty years at the helm of the Taunton-based waste management company.
And, Ian Goodfellow, UK managing director for Shanks Group plc, is set to leave the firm at the end of May afterten years. He is to be replaced by Peter Eglinton, the former managing director of secure shredding company Iron Mountain.
Viridor
Mr Drummond, who is also executive director of Viridors parent company Pennon Group Plc, has agreed to take up the position of non-executive chairman of Viridor once a successor has been appointed. A decision is expected by the end of September 2013.
In a statement, Pennon said Mr Drummond had led Viridor through a period of substantial growth in both revenues and profitability.
Ken Harvey, chairman of Pennon Group, said: “Colin has made a tremendous contribution to the success of Viridor and Pennon over many years. His leadership of Viridor and the development of its strategy have resulted in the company becoming one of the largest and best respected recycling, renewable energy and waste management businesses in the UK.
He has put in place the next stage of the company’s strategy, securing a pipeline of energy from waste plants backed by public/private partnership contracts and associated planning permissions. Colin’s decision to retire is therefore a timely one so that his successor can lead the delivery of this major and exciting programme over the next five years.
“I am delighted that he has agreed to become chairman of Viridor so that we do not lose his experience and expertise.”
The announcement of Mr Drummonds departure comes just months after the retirement of longstanding Viridor managing director Mike Hellings last year (see letsrecycle.com story).
Shanks
Meanwhile, Shanks Group plcs decision to replace Mr Goodfellow comes as the Group undergoes a significant cost-reduction programme, with 420 planned job losses. This comes against the backdrop of challenging market conditions which have impacted in particular on the companys UK solid waste business. However, the companys UK municipal division has continued to trade strongly.
The company said that Mr Goodfellow had decided to leave Shanks at the end of May to pursue other interests.
Mr Goodfellow joined Shanks in 2003, becoming UK managing director in 2005. Shanks said he had played an important role in shaping its UK businesses by significantly increasing the size and the profitability of its PFI portfolio and leading our UK expansion into anaerobic digestion.
For four years, Mr Goodfellow was also the chairman of the Environmental Services Association, the trade body for the waste and resource management industry (see letsrecycle.com story). He will continue to lead Shanks UK in his capacity as managing director until April 30 2013, and will support the business as needed thereafter.
Peter Eglinton
Peter Eglinton will take up his post as UK managing director at Shanks on May 1 2013. Mr Eglinton joins Shanks from Iron Mountain where he was managing director for the UK, Ireland and Norway for four years.
At Iron Mountain, Shanks said that he delivered significant profit expansion through implementing a customer-focused strategy and major operational improvements. Prior to Iron Mountain, he held senior management roles at Groupe Norbert Dentressangle, Christian Salvesen, DHL and Exel Plc. Peter will serve as a member of the Group Executive Committee, reporting directly to Peter Dilnot, group chief executive.
Peter Dilnot, group chief executive of Shanks commented: We would like to thank Ian for his significant contribution to the development of our UK business during his ten years with the Group and we wish him every success with his future plans.
I am delighted to welcome Peter to Shanks and look forward to working with him. He has a strong track record of delivering performance improvement in difficult markets, and has deep experience in logistics, continuous improvement and commercial effectiveness. Peters strong leadership will help us to grow the profitability of our UK business going forward.
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