Baroness McGregor-Smith is to leave Mitie. (Wikipedia)
Maintenance specialist Mitie has announced that chief executive Ruby McGregor-Smith will step down before the end of the year.
She will be replaced from 12 December by former Cable & Wireless and British Gas boss Phil Bentley.
Baroness McGregor-Smith has been with Mitie since December 2002 and had been chief executive since April 2007.
McGregor-Smith said: “It has been a real honour to serve on the board of Mitie and in particular to hold the role of chief executive.
“I am delighted that we are now in a position to appoint a new chief executive for Mitie and I wish Phil a successful future with the group.
“I would like to say a big thank you to everyone at Mitie who has helped make this such an extraordinary place to work, in particular my management team.”
Roger Matthews, chairman of Mitie, said: “Since becoming CEO, she has doubled revenue and profits, built a market-leading UK facilities management business, and been an inspiration to Mitie’s employees. I wish her every success for the future.”
He added: “I am delighted that Phil Bentley is joining Mitie. He has proven CEO experience with an excellent track record of significantly enhancing shareholder value in services businesses.
Her successor Bentley will join as a director on 1 November 2016 and take up the position of chief executive in December.
He most recently worked at Cable & Wireless Communications, where he served as group chief executive until its acquisition by John Malone’s Liberty Global.
Previously he ran British Gas for seven years and before that held a range of senior management and finance roles at Centrica and Diageo.
Last month Mitie issued a profit warning, informing investors that “significant economic pressures” would cause first half sales and profits to fall.
