ITE Group has announced the appointment of Richard Last as non-executive chairman effective from 12 February.
Neil England, who was serving as chairman, will return to his role as non-executive director once Last joins the Group.
With the task of the recruitment of the new chairman completed, Linda Jensen, senior independent director, has decided to step off the board to focus on her international business commitments. Jensen will remain on the board until 30 April 2018 to allow time for an orderly handover.
England commented: “On behalf of the board I would like to welcome Richard to ITE and we are looking forward to working with him. I also want to take this opportunity to thank Linda for her wisdom and considerable commitment in her time on the ITE board.”
Mark Shashoua, chief executive officer, commented: “Richard is joining ITE at an exciting time, as we begin to deliver on our Transformation & Growth programme. Richard’s experience in transforming businesses will be enormously beneficial as we continue to evolve the business. I am looking forward to working with him and benefitting from his insights. I would also like to thank Neil for his advice and guidance during his tenure as chairman.”
The Group has also published a trading update for the period from 1 October, incorporating the company’s first quarter trading period to 31 December 2017.
The Group’s performance in the quarter was in line with management expectations. The early benefits of the Transformation & Growth (TAG) programme continue to be felt with forward bookings up double digit on a like-for-like basis into 2018.
Revenue for the three month period to 31 December 2017 was £40.7m (three months to 31 December 2016: £35.0m). The increase is largely due to the Breakbulk North America event not taking place in the comparative period due to event timing, the first-time impact of two events from the prior year acquisition of Gehua in China, and this being the stronger biennial quarter. On a like-for-like basis revenues for the quarter are five per cent higher than the comparative period. Two top 10 events ran in the quarter, collectively delivering double digit like-for-like revenue growth.
