Board Changes

Mears Group PLC

14 December 2023

 

Mears Group PLC

("Mears", the "Group", or the "Company")

Board Changes

Mears (LSE: MER), the leading provider of services to the Housing sector in the UK is pleased to announce:

Ø The completion of the Board transition, which commenced in May 2022 when the Group announced David Miles' intention to retire as CEO. Evidencing the strength of our succession planning, Lucas Critchley will take the position of CEO in January 2024.

Ø Following Jim Clarke's appointment as Chair, Nick Wharton has been appointed as a Non-Executive Director and Chair of Audit and Risk Committee.

Ø As one of the first listed companies to adopt a governance model including an employee director, and based on our learning to date, we are making changes that we believe will further increase the effectiveness of the role.

Chief Executive Officer

The transition of the CEO role from David Miles to Lucas Critchley is complete and David intends to relinquish that position and step down from the PLC Board on 31 December 2023.  This has been well communicated to our stakeholders previously and the Board is pleased with this smooth transition. David will remain a key member of the senior management team and has committed to continue to provide support to the business over the medium term with particular focus on key client engagement, operational support and driving commercial performance.

Non-Executive Director and Chair of Audit & Risk Committee

The Board is pleased to announce that Nick Wharton has been appointed as a Non-Executive Director and Chair of Audit and Risk Committee with effect from today. Nick is a Chartered Accountant with extensive finance and corporate governance experience gained, both in the UK and internationally, through Executive and Non-Executive positions in consumer companies under both public and private equity ownership. Nick has been Group Chief Financial Officer ("CFO") at three public companies and Audit Committee Chair at four businesses including three FTSE listed companies. Nick was formerly CFO of Pepco NV, Superdry plc and Halfords Group plc and was also Chief Executive Officer at Dunelm plc and is currently Non-Executive Director and Audit Committee Chair at Oriflame Holding Limited and AG Barr plc.

Employee Director

The Group's Employee Director, Hema Nar, has elected for her position to become a non-statutory appointment and Companies House will be notified accordingly. This will enable Hema to solely focus on being an effective link between the Board and the Workforce. During 2023, the Group has greatly enhanced this function, with the addition of both a Deputy Employee Director and a Trade Representative. These three individuals perform regular branch visits, are highly visible and are in frequent contact with the Executive team which has become an increasingly valuable channel of communication. Hema will continue to attend and present at every Board meeting, and the change to a non-statutory position will not dilute the importance or significance of the role.

No further information is required to be disclosed pursuant to LR 9.6.13 R.

Commenting, Jim Clarke, Chairman of Mears, said:

"It is reassuring that the transition from David to Lucas has been seamless and proceeded exactly as planned. David's contribution to the development of Mears has been immense over many years and I am particularly pleased that he will continue to play an important role in the business going forward.

"I am pleased to secure the appointment of Nick Wharton to the Board of Mears. He brings a broad range of strong financial, commercial, and strategic experience gained over a long and successful executive career. I believe that his experience will bring value to Mears, and I look forward to working with him.

"I believe that the reclassification of Hema's role is appropriate for both Hema and the Group. It is reassuring that the Board will continue to fully benefit from the important work undertaken by Hema and her support team. I am also pleased that this new appointment, together with the reclassification of Hema's role, means that the Board is once again compliant with the Corporate Governance Code."

For further information, contact:
Mears Group PLC	Tel: [phone]
David Miles
Andrew Smith
Lucas Critchley
Deutsche Numis	Tel: [phone]
Julian Cater
Kevin Cruickshank
Panmure Gordon	Tel: [phone]
Tom Scrivens
James Sinclair-Ford

About Mears

Mears is the leading provider of services to the Affordable Housing sector, providing a range of services to individuals within their homes. We manage and maintain around 450,000 homes across the UK and work predominantly with Central Government and Local Government typically through long-term contracts. We equally consider the residents of the homes that we manage and maintain to be our customers, and we take pride in the high levels of customer satisfaction that we achieve.

Mears currently employs around 5,500 people and provides services in every region of the UK. In partnership with our Housing clients, we provide property management and maintenance services. Mears has extended its activities to provide broader housing solutions to solve the challenge posed by the lack of affordable housing and to provide accommodation and support for the most vulnerable.

We focus on long-term outcomes for people rather than short-term solutions and invest in innovations that have a positive impact on people's quality of life and on their communities' social, economic, and environmental wellbeing. Our innovative approaches and market leading positions are intended to create value for our customers and the people they serve while also driving sustainable financial returns for our providers of capital, especially our shareholders.

 

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