Stobart names new chairman

23rd Aug 2013 11:48

Haulage firm Stobart appointed former Tate & Lyle boss Iain Ferguson as its new Chairman and revealed business had been "solid" in the last six months.Ferguson, who is Chairman of Berendsen and also sits on the boards of Gregg's and Balfour Beatty, will be the latest in a string of people to take Stobart's chair when he fills the role at the start of October. The company recruited Avril Palmer-Baunack as executive chairman in January but soon changed its mind and Palmer-Baunack left the company in May. Paul Orchard-Lisle has filled the Non-Executive Chairman role on an interim basis and Stobart said today he would step down from the board in due course.The management changes come amid a difficult year for the group. It issued a profits warning in January and left the FTSE 250 index in March after a slide in its share price.It said its transport and distribution division, which includes the Eddie Stobart haulage fleet, had achieved a solid result in the last six months despite swings in retail sales volumes which were hit by the volatile weather. Stobart warned there would be some exceptional costs relating to the restructure of Autologic, which it bought in 2012, and the executive board changes earlier in the year. Shares in Stobart were down 5.6% at 110p at 12:00 on Friday. TB