Speedy Hire CEO resigns after material profit warning

Speedy Hire's chief executive has stepped down after the company warned that full-year results will be materially below expectations.

The tool and equipment hire company suffered a slower-than-expected start to the current financial year due to a lack of available equipment, a focus on strategic accounts at the expense of SME customers and poor customer service caused by disruption during implementation of a new computer systems.

Management had begun to implement remedial programmes to fix the long running problems but these seem to have been insufficient to turn the Speedy ship around.

CEO Mark Rogerson has therefore fallen on his sword, with ex-Hertz man Jan Åstrand, who joined in December, becoming executive chairman and Russell Down, who only joined as finance director in April, becoming acting CEO.

"This is extremely disappointing," said Åstrand. "I believe that Speedy remains a fundamentally good business but, whilst some progress has been made over the last year, the remedial action programmes have not been delivered as needed."

Åstrand said the immediate priority for the company was to accelerate the execution of these remedial programmes and increase focus on the SME hire market.

He said an update would be given in September as part of a pre-close statement.