Director Changes: May 16-20
Lesley Knox announced her intention to step down next May as chairman of Alliance Trust (ATST) at the AGM last week. She has been chairman since 2004 and on the board since 2001. At the same time, Ms Claire Sheikh has resigned as a non-executive director, having been involved with the company since 2005 – this resignation takes effect immediately.
Simon Miller has resigned as a director of Dunedin Enterprise (DNE) after more than 12 years on the board. He remains on the board of four other listed companies, including Brewin Dolphin Holdings, a VCT and two investment companies. The board of Dunedin is a very stable one, with the average tenure exceeding seven years.
James Carthew has joined the board of Greenwich Loan Income (GLIF) as a non-executive director. This is his first such role.
Stephen Ackerman has resigned as a director of Gresham House (GHE) after serving just 11 months on the board. His previous two directorships of listed companies were also short.
John Chapman has been appointed as a non-executive director of Indian property company Hirco (HRCO). He is also chairman of two listed companies and on the board of two further ones. This takes the board of Hirco to five members, where the current average tenure is fairly short at less than three years.
Christopher Fletcher has been appointed a non-executive director of Invesco Perpetual UK Smaller Companies (IPU). He is also on the board of Northern 2 VCT and is Head of Retail Investments at Baillie Gifford.
There are two new board members at private equity company LoudWater (LWT). Brett Miller and Rhys Davies have both joined the board with immediate effect. Miller already serves on five boards, including one as chairman. Davies serves on two of these same five boards as well.
Rights & Issues (RIIC) also has two new board members. David Best and John Roper take the board to six members.
Wessel Hamman has joined the board of Sirius Real Estate (SRE) as a non-executive director. This is also his first such role. He joins a relatively fresh board, where the longest tenure is four years.
Director Buying
Aberdeen New Thai (ANW) – James Robinson
Alpha Pyrenees Trust (ALPH) – Paul Cable (manager)
Amati VCT (ATI) – Peter Lawrence
Gresham House (GHE) – Rosemary Chopin-John
Henderson Smaller Companies (HSL) – Keith Percy
John Laing Infrastructure (JLIF) – Paul Lester
JPMorgan Emerging Markets (JMG) – Nigel Kennedy
Maven Income & Growth VCT 3 (MIG3) - Bill Nixon
Murray International (MYI) – Alfred Shedden
Scottish American (SCAM) – Rachel Lomax
Securities Trust of Scotland (STS) – Neil Donaldson
Witan (WTAN) – Andrew Bell