Marshalls plc has announced the appointments of Ian Dean as Managing Director for Landscape and Building Products, Louise Furness as Chief People and ESG Officer, and Simon Bourne as Chief Operating Officer

Following the announcement of record financial results last month, Marshalls plc has announced a number of significant leadership changes. The landscape and building products business has seen strong trading in the first months of 2022 and its £24 million investment in a new plant in St Ives is well underway and on track to bring increased capacity and product choice to the market. In addition, the business has also announced that it has entered into a conditional agreement to acquire the entire issued share capital of Marley Group plc (Marley) at a value of £535 million.

In addition to taking on the role of Chief Operating Officer Bourne has also been appointed to the Marshalls plc board. He has worked for the business for almost seven years, most recently as Group Operations Director.

In recent years, Bourne has made several significant changes to the operations function at Marshalls, including the integration of business acquisitions into existing operations. He has ensured that this vital part of the business is customer-focused, both through a successful restructure and the launch of many NPD projects that bring innovation to the market. He was also instrumental in the realisation of Marshalls' carbon reduction ambitions, with the aim to become net zero by 2030.

Bourne is the Chair of MPA British Precast. Before working at Marshalls, he worked in a number of sectors, ranging from textiles, printing and packaging, media, and food.

Of the appointment, Martyn Coffey, Chief Executive for Marshalls, said: “It is vital that we have this new role providing challenge and guidance across the wider organisation, and Simon’s experience makes him ideally placed for this.”

Ian Dean has worked for the business since August 2020, when he joined to manage several specific business divisions. His leadership of the divisions of Civils and Drainage, Bricks and Masonry, Mortars and Screeds, Aggregates, and Landscape Protection will be extended to include the core Marshalls Landscape businesses.
 
Dean takes over from Pete Hallitt, former Group Trading Director, who will retire at the end of 2022, and has been with Marshalls for over 17 years. He will carry on managing a number of strategic projects until he retires.
 
Martyn Coffey commented: “Ian has become a significant asset for Marshalls since joining us just under two years ago, and I’m pleased to see him move into this role. We’re investing in our growth, innovation and customer experience, and Ian plays an integral part in this.
 
“Pete has been a very strong part of my leadership team and a crucial part of Marshalls for a very long time; whilst he is still with us until the end of the year, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank him for his commitment and hard work over the years.”
 
Before joining Marshalls, Dean was Managing Director of Knauf, where he worked for 19 years and progressed from roles in sales and marketing. He said: “I’m delighted to be taking up this position in a business that has such a strong brand and, most importantly, such great people. It’s an exciting time for Marshalls with the launch of our Shine customer centricity programme and the opening of our innovative dual block plant later in the year, which will product new ranges of landscaping products.”

The newly created role of Chief People and ESG Officer will see Furness lead the business’ sustainability work in its broadest sense; creating better futures for everyone through a continued focus on strong ethical, environmental and corporate social responsibility principles. She takes this on in addition to her existing responsibilities for people strategy within the business. She will work alongside Chris Harrop OBE, who is ESG Strategy Director on a part-time basis.

Furness joined Marshalls in 2018 as Group HR Director, in that time she has successfully spearheaded a change in the culture and engagement agendas for the business, raising the importance of talent, skills development and agility. Louise has extensive experience of driving people change and transformation in multi-national contexts.

She said: “I’m proud to represent Marshalls by taking responsibility for this key area. We’ve built a great heritage over the years thanks to the hard work of Chris Harrop OBE, and I’m looking forward to building on our position of strength, with continuing advice and support from Chris.

“Our strategy remains clear; doing things right for customers, colleagues and the other partners we have in businesses. It’s what we call The Marshalls Way. ”

Commenting on the appointment, Martyn Coffey said: “Louise is a well-established member of the Marshalls executive team and has contributed to the shaping of our ESG agenda as a part of that. It was a logical step to ask her to take on increased responsibilities, which I know she is passionate about, and to work within the business to continue to drive change and improvement. I am delighted she accepted my challenge!”