New boss surplus to Stobart Group's needs By Christopher Walton
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STOBART GROUP has shaken up its board of directors for the second time this year, in a move that sees Avril Palmer-Baunack stand down from her role as executive chairman less than three months after being appointed.
The haulier said the job of executive chairman was "no longer appropriate" — despite claiming on 21 January that the firm needed one to "meet the challenges and opportunities within our strategy': It was understood at the time that Palmer-Baunack had the backing of Invesco, Stobart's largest shareholder (CM 7 February), something both parties declined to comment on.
Chief executive Andrew Tinkler had said in January that he was looking forward to "supporting [Palmer-Baunack's] leadership" and that she was the "right person to carry out this demanding role".
Palmer-Baunack will remain on Stobart's board of directors as a non-executive chairman until a "suitable independent" is found for the executive chairman role. This is expected to be on or around the release of the group's year-end results on 16 May, which it believes will be "moderately ahead of market expectations". The outgoing Rodney BakerBates, who announced his retirement at the same time Palmer-Baunack was promoted from her previous role as deputy chief executive, is to stay on until her replacement has been found. Palmer-Baunack is the former chief executive of Autologic, which Stobart acquired in August 2012.
• Stobart has signed a new threeyear contract with Tesco, which runs until 29 February 2016, formalising its role as primary and secondary distribution service provider. It has worked with Tesco on a 'pay-as-you-go' basis for the past eight years, and provides secondary distribution to nine Tesco DCs in the UK and one in the Republic of Ireland.