Pre Close & Board Appointment

26 Jan 2007 07:00

Northbridge Industrial Services PLC26 January 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 26 JANUARY 2007 NORTHBRIDGE INDUSTRIAL SERVICES PLC. ("Northbridge" or "the Company") PRE-CLOSE TRADING UPDATE APPOINTMENT OF FINANCE DIRECTOR Northbridge Industrial Services Plc, the industrial services and rental companytoday issues the following trading statement in advance of its preliminaryresult for the year ended 31 December 2006 which are scheduled for release on 26March 2007. The company has made good progress during the year following its acquisition ofCrestchic Ltd on 28 March 2006. The buoyant markets enjoyed by Crestchic in thefirst half have continued for the full year and trading has been aboveexpectations. Northbridge has had a strong end to the year supported by the successfulcompletion of the large Sakhalin Island contract. The order book for 2007continues to strengthen and enquiries for hire equipment have given usconfidence to invest further into our hire fleet. We are trading in good marketsacross the world and the board expects this to continue for the rest of thecurrent financial year. The Board of Northbridge is also pleased to announce the appointment today ofAshoni Kumar Mehta (age 41) as Finance Director (designate). Ash will take overthe part time role from Brian Connolly on the 1 April 2007 following Brian'sretirement. Since qualifying as a Chartered Accountant in 1992 with KPMG, Ash has held anumber of senior financial roles in fully listed and AIM companies includingUltrasis Plc and Raft International and has experience in IPO type fund raisingsand acquisitions. More recently Ash has founded Orchard Growth Partners, aprofessional services firm offering flexible Finance Director services togrowing SMEs, Ash will remain Chief Executive of Orchard Growth Partners. As was anticipated at the time of the company's conception, Brian Connolly willretire having completed the successful flotation of Northbridge, the acquisitionof Crestchic limited and the announcement of the Company's preliminary resultsfor 2006. The Board would like to express its thanks to Brian for his effortsand hard work which has enabled Northbridge to have a successful first year as apublic company. Ash Mehta's directorships in the past five years are set out below. Current PreviousAurora Executive Search Raft International plcLimitedInnovation Value Limited Calmnet.com LimitedOrchard Growth Partners Calm Corporation (UK)Limited LimitedPassionquest Group Limited Empress LimitedTwynham Limited Ultramind LimitedThe Quoted Companies Alliance Ultramind Group Plc Ultrasis plc Ultrasis Calm Limited Ultasis Group Limited Ultrasis (North America) Limited Ultrasis UK Limited No further disclosures are required under Schedule 2 paragraph (g) of the AIMRules in respect of Mr. Mehta's appointment For more information please contact: Northbridge Industrial Services plc 01283 531 645Eric Hook, CEO Charles Stanley Securities 020 7739 8200Mark Taylor / Freddy Crossley Buchanan Communications 020 7466 5000Charles Ryland / James Strong This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange