Safestyle names new boss as company battles aggressive sector rival
DOUBLE GLAZING firm Safestyle UK has appointed restructuring specialist Mike Gallacher as its new chief executive following a turbulent time for the company.
Mr Gallacher will replace Steve Birmingham in what the company said was part of longestablished senior management succession plans.
Last week shares in Safestyle plunged after the firm warned that trading conditions have deteriorated, partly because of the actions of a very aggressive new entrant, namely SafeGlaze, which is also based in Bradford.
Mr Gallacher, aged 52, has a strong pedigree with over 20 years’ commercial and operational experience of building and managing businesses in the UK and internationally.
Safestyle said he brings significant expertise in operational strategy, business development and performance improvement.
He was most recently CEO of First Milk, the UK major dairy company owned by British family farms, where he developed and implemented a major restructuring and turnaround strategy that delivered a £30m improvement in business profitability in 24 months.
This was recognised as the Financial Restructuring of the Year 2016 by the Institute of Turnaround Management. Analysts welcomed the news. Charlie Campbell at Liberum said: “Safestyle has appointed a new CEO, Mike Gallacher, with an impressive track record. He replaces Steve Birmingham after a lengthy and thorough search process.
“Mike Gallacher led an impressive turnaround in his last post, at First Milk, adding £34m to group profit and before that was in charge of a £750m business (Mars Petcare UK).”