This will be the third extraordinary message I have written this year and I was hoping that when I came to write this the lockdowns that the government have imposed would be over. Sadly this is not the case, however with a vaccine on the horizon I hope some kind of normality will start to appear.

What I think we can say with some certainty is that the company has weathered the worst of the corona virus storm, we have used the time wisely by introducing technology to modernise our offering and restructuring our operations and head office services to prepare ourselves for the changing economic outlook ahead. The majority of this strategic work has been carried out through the direction of Chris Ward (CW) and Tom Wicks (TW) who have proven themselves able leaders in this difficult period.

The company was formed in October 1996 and next year will be 25 years old and I will be in my 60th year. I am immensely proud of what the company has achieved in this time and want to see what the next 25 years will bring, however, I realise that I won’t be able to carry out an executive role for the next 25 years and as I have no desire to sell my shares to a third party this means we need to plan for succession.

During the course of this year CW has taken on many of the traditional roles of an MD guiding our response to virus, controlling our IT and sales delivery, ably supported by TW who has guided the many operational and admin support changes needed in order to get the company through these changing times.

So in order to achieve a smooth transition I will be appointing CW to the position of Managing Director from 1st January 2021 and with TW in support they will take responsibility for the running of our service business.

Colin Smith (CS) will still Run our project business and Lisa our accounts department, they will report to me directly, however, all my other responsibilities and direct reports will now pass to CW.

I am not leaving the business, merely taking a step back to enable a younger more energetic generation to drive the business into the future. I will chair the board meetings and will take a keen interest in all of your careers, looking to pave the way for greater management control of the business from within the business as circumstances dictate.

A business thrives when they have the maximum possible internal promotions and so I am particularly pleased that both CW and TW have proved to be successful in their new roles knowing they firmly believe in the same principle.

I have every confidence that this new team will guide our path into the future, looking after all our interests, you will be in safe hands and I for one am looking forward to the journey ahead.

T