Last checked at 12 Nov 2009 17:00
F W Thorpe Plc (the "Company")
12th November 2009
Annual General Meeting statement
At the Annual General Meeting of F W Thorpe Plc, designer and manufacturer of professional lighting equipment for the specification market, held earlier today, Chairman, Andrew Thorpe, made the following statement.
"Now that we have finished the formal part of the meeting may I say one or two words in regard to F W Thorpe Plc and the year ahead and a few words on another matter also.
Dealing with the other matter first I would like to advise you or to confirm to you that my co-Chief Executive and our Group Financial Director, Mr Peter Mason, will be retiring from these posts in the Company in Spring 2010 and at a time not yet absolutely fixed but one which will depend upon the successful employment of a new Group Financial Director. In regard to any other Company positional changes to be made as a result of Peter's retirement more will be forthcoming at the appropriate time.
Peter will, I am pleased to say, not be leaving us completely but will continue as a non-executive director and he has offered to undertake any special project work on which the Company may require assistance.
So, although Peter is not going for a little while yet I feel that it is a correct time for me to thank Peter very much for his 22 years at F W Thorpe Plc. Starting at the old Facet Road, Kings Norton Factory, (which now incidentally is just a flat piece of land after its destruction by a fire) in 1987 Peter soon got to grips with our unsophisticated systems and has over the years not only guided us through many a financial minefield but has also been a leading light in the choice and the provision of our Company's operating systems - and much more.
Peter, thank you once again.
Returning to the year ahead, we most probably will not see a general election until near the end of our financial year and taken that the government spending proportion of our GDP is high and combining this with the knowledge that our current government will most probably continue to borrow to maintain the economic activity at its current level, we would suspect that there will be not too much difference in regard to product requirements in the current year as compared to last year. Indeed the beginning of this financial year has been in a similar vein to the last."
Contacts:
F W Thorpe Plc
Andrew Thorpe 01527 583200
Peter Mason 01527 583200
Brewin Dolphin Limited Nominated Adviser
Andrew Kitchingman 0845 213 4730
Sean Wyndham-Quin 0845 213 4730