Leadership trio will see us profitable by year’s end, says Kellan chair
4 June 2013
Kellan Group’s executive chairman Tony Reeves (pictured) tells Recruiter that it is in no hurry to appoint a new chief executive officer and is confident the firm’s new leadership trio will make it profitable “by the end of the year”.
Tue, 4 Jun 2013Kellan Group’s executive chairman Tony Reeves (right) tells Recruiter that it is in no hurry to appoint a new chief executive officer and is confident the firm’s new leadership trio will make it profitable “by the end of the year”.
Reeves tells Recruiter that the group is now being running by the trio of himself, group finance director Rakesh Kirpalani and Mark Darby, managing director of Kellan hospitality brand Berkeley Scott, which accounts for over half of group revenues.
After four years in that MD role, Darby has now taken on “a much wider role focusing on the overall operations of the group”, a company spokesperson told Recruiter earlier.
This comes the day after recruiter.co.uk reported that former CEO Ross Eades was resigning from his non-executive director (NED) role, two and a half months after stepping down from the top job.
The board of the AIM-listed business consists of Kirpalani, Reeves and two further NEDs, Michael Jackson and Quentin Spratt.
“Mark’s my right arm if you like. I’ve got a lot of time for Mark and I’ve got no doubt that as things continue he’ll take an increasingly leading role… that’s what he wants to do, and that’s what I want to help him achieve,” says Reeves.
“We’re not too tied up on titles,” he tells Recruiter, “we do and share everything… we make joint decisions.”
Reeves himself says he currently spends three or four days a week with Kellan, and his job title of executive chairman rather than CEO “just reflects that I have other business interests, and that is not a secret”. He is also a private investor in various early stage companies.
Alongside Darby (left), Reeves says that bringing through internal talent will also be key for the group going forward from what have been some difficult years. “As we come through this… I think there will be promotions within the Kellan Group,” he says.
“The first thing we wanted was to stop the losses and we're well on track, and I think by the end of the year we will be profitable. Whether we’ve made up the losses for the first half of the year is another question.”
The firm will report financial results for the first six months of 2013 in September, with the annual report for the year to 31 December coming in March 2014.
Reeves tells Recruiter that the group is now being running by the trio of himself, group finance director Rakesh Kirpalani and Mark Darby, managing director of Kellan hospitality brand Berkeley Scott, which accounts for over half of group revenues.
After four years in that MD role, Darby has now taken on “a much wider role focusing on the overall operations of the group”, a company spokesperson told Recruiter earlier.
This comes the day after recruiter.co.uk reported that former CEO Ross Eades was resigning from his non-executive director (NED) role, two and a half months after stepping down from the top job.
The board of the AIM-listed business consists of Kirpalani, Reeves and two further NEDs, Michael Jackson and Quentin Spratt.
“Mark’s my right arm if you like. I’ve got a lot of time for Mark and I’ve got no doubt that as things continue he’ll take an increasingly leading role… that’s what he wants to do, and that’s what I want to help him achieve,” says Reeves.
“We’re not too tied up on titles,” he tells Recruiter, “we do and share everything… we make joint decisions.”
Reeves himself says he currently spends three or four days a week with Kellan, and his job title of executive chairman rather than CEO “just reflects that I have other business interests, and that is not a secret”. He is also a private investor in various early stage companies.
Alongside Darby (left), Reeves says that bringing through internal talent will also be key for the group going forward from what have been some difficult years. “As we come through this… I think there will be promotions within the Kellan Group,” he says.
“The first thing we wanted was to stop the losses and we're well on track, and I think by the end of the year we will be profitable. Whether we’ve made up the losses for the first half of the year is another question.”
The firm will report financial results for the first six months of 2013 in September, with the annual report for the year to 31 December coming in March 2014.
