Joinery group chief to retire

The founder and chief executive of Howdens Joinery is to retire, with the firm poaching the boss of Screwfix to replace him.

Matthew Ingle will leave Howdens in 2018 after 22 years and will be succeeded by Andrew Livingston.

Mr Ingle, who founded Howdens in 1995, will become the firm’s honorary lifetime president after stepping down.

Under his tenure, Howdens has grown from a company with a £1 million turnover to reporting annual sales of more than £1.3 billion in 2016.

It operates from 650 depots across the UK.