Lavendon appoints ex-Carillion director as new CEO

Lavendon Group has appointed Don Kenny, a former director of UK contractor Carillion, as its new chief executive officer. The appointment follows the departure of long-standing CEO Kevin Appleton earlier this year.

Mr Kenny, who takes up his post on 1 October, is a qualified accountant who was most recently executive director of Carillion. He has served on Carillion's main board since 2006 and his roles at the company have included group managing director of Carillion Business Services, the facilities management division with revenues of £1.2 billion and 15000 employees.

Before joining Carillion, Mr Kenny was managing director of Johnson Controls IFM UK, the UK-based facilities management division Johnson Controls Inc. He has also worked as a vice president of Sulzer Infra and held various management roles with Mowlem in the UK, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Scandinavia.

As a result of his appointment, John Standen will resume his previous role as non- executive chairman and Jan Astrand will revert to non-executive director.

Mr Standen said he was delighted with the appointment of Mr Kenny; "He brings with him a wealth of experience of improving operating performance and growing businesses successfully both in the UK and internationally, together with a deep understanding of our industrial end markets.

"He is the ideal candidate to lead the Group through the next phase of its development and I am confident that he will deliver significant shareholder value."

Mr Kenny said he looked forward to "working with the board and the executive management team to further the Group's potential, leveraging its strong market positions and improving its return on capital employed."