Chris Gimson will be taking over as commercial director at Dow Building Solutions, manufacturer of STYROFOAM-A and XENERGY insulation, in February 2014.

He succeeds Jayne Law, who has been in the position since 2004. Ms Law first joined Dow in 1987 and has held various marketing and commercial roles in the UK and across Europe during her career. In 2012, she was awarded an MBE for services to the insulation industry. She is leaving the company to pursue personal interests.

Mr Gimson joined Dow as part of the acquisition of Flexible Products in February 2000, during which time he was European managing director. During his Dow career, he has been a senior account manager for the cushion packaging business, managed the STYROFOAM business in Ireland and directed the core composite STYROFOAM business.

In his new role, Mr Gimson will once again assume responsibility for the extruded polystyrene business in Ireland, and oversee the spray polyurethane business in the UK.

He said: “It’s been a year of change for Dow Building Solutions as we have expanded our channels to market, introduced new multi-purpose STYROFOAM 150-A and built on the successful introduction of our XENERGY roof insulation product. It’s a great time to be assuming commercial responsibility for a business with such a strong heritage upon which to build.”

Robert Bacca, European commercial director for Dow, welcomed Mr Gimson’s appointment. "Chris is very well respected within the industry, and has already built fantastic relations with the majority of our UK customer base," he said. "He is a very worthy successor to Jayne and is in a great position to take the business further forward.

“We will greatly miss Jayne and sincerely thank her for the many years of hard work and dedication she has given to Dow. However, she leaves behind a very strong and dedicated team who will continue to give our customers the best possible commercial and technical service with Chris at the helm.”