WORCESTER: Worcester, Bosch Group has announced the promotion of two of its longest-serving directors to the positions of chief executive officer and managing director, as the business moves forward into 2012 – its 50th anniversary year.

Richard Soper, who has played a central role in Worcester’s success story – joining the business in 1977 and working alongside its founder, Cecil Duckworth, before becoming managing director in 2001 – has been promoted to chief executive for Bosch Thermotechnology, which encompasses the Worcester, Bosch Group and Buderus brands. He will continue to play an integral part in the long-term strategic development of the company.

Carl Arntzen, who joined the company in 1985 and has been a board director of Bosch Thermotechnology since 1997, has been promoted to managing director to lead the business as it embarks on a new era of growth. This includes implementing forward-thinking plans to introduce the next phase of green technologies, as well as overseeing the development of the business in both the residential and commercial / industrial sectors, in order to achieve the company’s vision of significantly increasing turnover in the next decade.

Over the past 50 years, Worcester has only had three managing directors, with Carl Arntzen being the fourth to lead the business in the UK. The promotions of two such long-standing members of the senior management team, combined with Worcester’s loyal team of people, market knowledge and customer-focused approach, means the business is in the best possible position to move forward under new leadership.

On becoming managing director, Carl Arntzen said: “Stability is so important for any organisation, especially in a changing industry such as ours and Worcester is fortunate to have strong foundations on which to build its future. As we approach the 50th anniversary of the company, my focus for the next decade will be on the controlled expansion and diversification of our business, with the aim of opening up new horizons for employees and customers alike.

“Embracing new market opportunities is vitally important to the success of Worcester and we expect to see a number of hybrid solutions entering the UK, providing a stepping stone to ensure renewable technologies are more widely installed in British homes. As these products emerge, there is huge potential to take Worcester into new market segments, and this is exciting. Whatever we do we want to do it exceptionally well. This means we will only introduce new technologies to the market when we are 100% confident they have been tried and tested for UK homes.

“We have all the right systems and processes already in place to deliver on Worcester’s core values of reliability, quality, efficiency and value for money. This provides a solid starting point for the next phase of expansion and growth and also means we can put all our energy into concentrating on the future and move forward with ambitious plans.”

Chief executive officer, Richard Soper said: “Over the past 50 years Worcester, Bosch Group has been at the forefront of technology and innovation in the heating and hot water industry. The Worcester brand has seen significant investment in people, products and processes, putting customer relationships at the heart of everything we do. The result is a company with strong values, award winning products and services, not to mention a proud heritage, which is now ready to enter a period of major growth.

“Under Carl’s leadership the business will continue to grow and expand while staying true to our core values. I wish him every success and look forward to working with him during what looks set to be an exciting time for everyone at Worcester and the heating and hot water industry.”