Aggreko appoints former G4S executive as board director

Aggreko has announced the appointment of former G4S executive David Taylor-Smith as its new director for Europe, Middle East and Africa, with effect from 11 March 2013.

Mr Taylor-Smith, a former British Army officer, has spent much of his career in the private security industry, with Securicor and between 1998 and 2012 with G4S, latterly as chief operating officer and regional chief executive for UK, Ireland and Africa.

He resigned from G4S last September as a consequence of its troubled London Olympics security contract, where it failed to provide sufficient security staff, with the police and the army having to step in. G4S acknowledged that it had not handled the contract well and booked a loss of £70 million on the project after a settlement with the Olympics organisers.

The appointment follows the management reorganisation announced y Aggreko last September, with the group being split into three regional units for the Americas; Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA); and Asia, Pacific and Australia (APAC), each managed by a main board director.

The Americas and APAC posts were filled by internal candidates - Asterios Satrazemis and Debajit Das, respectively – and Aggreko said at the time it would seek an external candidate for the EMEA job.

Rupert Soames, Aggreko’s chief executive, said; "We are delighted that David will be joining Aggreko. He brings with him a wealth of international experience and has proved his ability to build and manage very large businesses."

Before working in the security industry Mr Taylor-Smith served as an officer in the British Army, stationed in Northern Ireland, Germany, UK and Cyprus.