G4S says goodbye to third UK chief in two years
G4S, the tagging scandal hit security services firm, has lost its third UK chief executive in two years.
Eddie Aston, who joined the contract giant from Deutsche Post DHL, has left after just six months in the role, as first reported by the FT’s Gill Plimmer.
The company confirmed he left at the end of last week. Aston replaced Richard Morris last October; the latter had been in the role just a year. Before that, David Taylor Smith was fired from his role as chief operating officer, following the Olympic Games fiasco.
Aston will be replaced, temporarily, by Peter Neden, who’s a previous regional managing director of G4S outsourcing services for the UK and Ireland.
G4S is still under a Serious Fraud Office probe, along with fellow security firm Serco, for overcharging the government for tagging criminals who were either in prison, overseas or dead.
Its full-year results in March revealed that, with profits to £442m, it missed analysts’ forecasts of £459m, with weaker-than-expected revenues and charges relating to the tagging scandal.
Shares are currently trading in the red, down 1.5 per cent.