Hill & Smith appoints Rutger Helbing as chief executive officer

(Alliance News) - Hill & Smith PLC on Thursday named Rutger Helbing as chief executive officer, effective immediately.

Hill & Smith is a West Midlands, England-based provider of infrastructure products.

Rutger's appointment was the result of an "extensive process" that considered both internal and external candidates, supported by an external executive search firm, the company said.

Rutger was most recently CEO of Tyman PLC, a London-based provider of engineered components to the construction industry. Prior to this, he was CEO of Devro PLC, a Glasgow-based sausage casing manufacturer.

Tony Quinlan, chair of the nomination committee & senior independent director, said: "The board is pleased to appoint such an experienced CEO as Rutger to lead Hill & Smith at a time when the business has strong trading and strategic momentum and is well positioned in some extremely attractive end markets, with long term structural growth drivers, particularly in the US. We were fortunate that Rutger was able to join the process at a relatively late stage, following the acquisition of Tyman this summer."

Executive Chair Alan Giddins will step back from his role following a short handover period and revert to his previous role of non-executive chair. Giddins has been executive chair since July 2022 and a non-executive since October 2017. He will step down as chair following the May 2026 annual general meeting.

The board has reorganised executive responsibilities since the appointment of Rutger as CEO, one result of which is Chief Operating Officer Hooman Caman Javvi stepping down from the board to pursue other opportunities. Hill & Smith does not currently intend to hire a replacement.

Shares in Hill & Smith were up 1.5% at 2,055.00 pence each in London on Thursday morning.

By Emily Parsons, Alliance News reporter

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