Alastair Marsh, current CFO at the Lloyd’s Register Group Ltd. (LR), has been appointed as the successor to CEO Richard Sadler who has decided to step down at the end of 2015.
Sadler will pass the CEO role to Marsh on October 1, 2015 and commence a formal handover period until the end of December 2015. Simon Nice, currently Group FP&A Director, will take up the role of Interim Group Financial Director during the transition.
Following Sadler’s decision to step down as CEO, the LR board of directors conducted a six-month internal and external review of potential successors, unanimously agreeing that Alastair Marsh possesses the capability and leadership to take on the role as LR’s next CEO.
Alastair Marsh joined LR as Group Financial Controller in April 2007 and was appointed as Group Finance Director in April 2008. Previously he held a number of senior financial management positions, including CFO and Company Secretary of Superscape Group plc, and prior to that he held similar roles at Easynet Group plc, Laporte plc and NCR Corporation.
Marsh is a graduate in Business Studies & Accounting from Edinburgh University and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland. He worked with Price Waterhouse for five years, in both their Edinburgh and Brisbane offices, on a broad range of audit and corporate finance clients, covering a wide range of industries. Alastair also sits on the board as Executive Director and a number of boards of subsidiary companies.
Commenting on his departure from the group, Sadler said, “When I was appointed in 2007, I made a public commitment that I would serve as CEO for five years. After eight years in the role I believe it is now time to step down to pursue new challenges while I’m still young enough. It has been a great honor to serve as CEO of LR – it is a unique organization with a history, purpose and values of which I am immensely proud.”
Since Sadler’s appointment as CEO on July 1, 2007, he and the executive team have implemented a group strategy that has seen LR diversify its service portfolio and grow to a £1 billion turnover business, the group said. This period saw the creation of the Lloyd’s Register Foundation in 2012, as well as LR’s Global Technology Centers in Southampton and Singapore.
Having joined LR in 1976 from the Royal Navy, Richard worked in the marine, industrial and offshore sectors before moving overseas for 12 years. He returned to the U.K. in 1995 as Corporate IT Business Manager and held a number of posts before becoming Marine General Manager, London in 2000. Richard moved to the Royal Bank of Scotland in 2004 as Director Ship Asset Management, and rejoined LR in 2006 as EMEA Director.
Marsh said, “I feel very privileged to have been asked by the LR Board to take over from Richard as CEO. I am passionate about LR as an organization and I am delighted to have been given the opportunity to lead LR through what promises to be exciting and challenging times ahead for the clients and industries we serve.”