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The long-serving chair of social housing contractor Mears has announced his retirement.
Bob Holt, who has been with Mears for 23 years, will officially leave the company on 2 January to be replaced by Kieran Murphy, an investment banker and former Treasury civil servant.
Mr Holt has been an integral part of growing the contractor to become a £900m-turnover company and was involved in the company’s flotation on the stock market in 1996.
Mr Murphy’s previous roles include management roles at investment bank Kleinwort Benson and corporate finance advisory firm Gleacher Shacklock. He also spent eight years at the Treasury at the start of his career.
In July, Mears announced that Mr Holt would not be seeking re-election for the role of chair, and a replacement would be sought.
It came just days after major shareholder, Frankfurter Aktienfonds für Stiftungen, had called for shareholders to vote on replacing Mr Holt.
Mears is a major player in the social housing sector providing services for a number of housing associations and councils. Last month, it expanded after buying Mitie’s social housing arm in a deal worth £23m.
Mr Holt is also executive chair of Sureserve, which used to be known as Lakehouse. Mr Holt was involved in the sale of Lakehouse’s construction arm to Mapps Group in August.
David Miles, chief executive of Mears, said: “I am pleased to welcome Kieran Murphy to the board of Mears. He brings a broad range of valuable experience into the boardroom as we continue to drive the business forward. I look forward to working with him in the years ahead.
“At the same time, we must all recognise the great contribution that Bob Holt has brought to Mears over the past 23 years. His commitment and guidance still underpins much of the business here today. Bob leaves with our thanks and we wish him every success in the future.”