Mitie boss Ruby McGregor-Smith will be replaced by former Cable and Wireless boss Phil Bentley when she steps down in December
Outsourcing group Mitie has announced that chief executive Ruby McGregor-Smith will step down before the end of the year.
She will be replaced by Phil Bentley when she leaves the firm on 12 December. Bentley is joining the company in November and will work with McGregor-Smith to "ensure an effective transition including with clients, employees, investors and other stakeholders as required".
McGregor-Smith has been a director of Mitie since December 2002 and has served as chief executive since April 2007 – the first Asian female chief executive of a FTSE 250-listed firm.
Bentley was most recently group chief executive at Cable and Wireless Communications, until it was taken over by John Malone's Liberty Global. Before that, Bentley ran British Gas.
“It has been a real honour to serve on the Board of Mitie and in particular to hold the role of chief executive," McGregor-Smith said.
"I am delighted that we are now in a position to appoint a new chief executive for Mitie and I wish Phil a successful future with the group.
“I would like to say a big thank you to everyone at Mitie who has helped make this such an extraordinary place to work, in particular my management team. Thank you also to all the people who have worked for us since I joined, and to all of our other stakeholders, especially our clients, for their support over the past decade.”
Bentley added: “Ruby has done a brilliant job building Mitie into the admired industry leader it is today. Although it is a challenging time for the sector, we have a strong platform from which I am certain we can now prosper.
“I am really looking forward to working with my new colleagues, delivering world-class services to our customers and creating sustainable shareholder value.”