Havelock Europa chief quits as losses widen at shopfitter

● ‘Difficult’ first half sees revenues fall 9% amid ‘weak’ orders across public sector

David Ritchie has resigned as chief executive of Fifebased shopfitting and interiors group Havelock Europa, which yesterday unveiled a sharp increase in losses for the first half of the year.

The Kirkcaldy firm said that Ritchie, who had been in the post since May 2015, had quit to “pursue other business interests” and has been succeeded by Shaun Ormrod, who was previously in charge of the Farnborough International Airshow.

The change in leadership came after Havelock earlier this month warned that its annual profits would fall “considerably below expectations” amid delays in the start of work for key customers and lower-than-expected orders from the public sector.

Ian Godden, the company’s chairman, said: “The board would like to thank David for all his hard work over the last three years and wish him every success in his future endeavours. We would also like to welcome Shaun to the board as CEO.

“I believe that Shaun’s significant experience as a chief executive, allied with his relevant design, interiors, and property redevelopment expertise, will be highly valuable to Havelock as we begin to implement a new strategy for the company’s future growth later this year.”

Godden’s comments came as Havelock said it fell deeper into the red during the six months to the end of June with a pre-tax loss of £2.6 million, compared with an £868,000 loss for the same period a year ago. The wider losses reflected lower sales and higher costs linked to the implementation of a new enterprise resource planning system.

Revenues fell 9 per cent to £23.2m, with the blame attributed mainly on a “weak opening order book” from clients in the public sector.

Although the second half of the year is expected to be profitable, Havelock reiterated its warning that results for 2017 as a whole will be “significantly below last year”.

In April, the firm reported a return to the black with a pretax profit before exceptional items of £400,000 for 2016, compared with an £800,000 loss the previous year.

The company, which lost a major financial services client in 2015, also told investors yesterday that the results of a “comprehensive review” of its strategy, carried out over the last six months, will be unveiled at the end of October.

Its interim results showed that Havelock’s pension deficit has decreased to £7.5m, from £7.7m at the end of last year. The board does not plan to propose any dividend in 2017.

Godden, who took the helm following the departure of previous chairman David Maclellan in January, said: “Havelock has experienced a difficult first half, with market uncertainty among both public and private sector clients resulting in reduced or delayed activity. I believe, however, that our new leadership team, combined with our developing commercial strategy, will set a strong foundation for the future.”