Troubled glassmaker Darby of the UK announced plans recently to restructure the group and give its eleven regional offices responsibility for their own profits.
The plan is the first move by new chie…
Troubled glassmaker Darby of the UK announced plans recently to restructure the group and give its eleven regional offices responsibility for their own profits. The plan is the first move by new chief executive Hugh Hayes, who joined the group in April after the departure of former chief executive and founding chairman Michael Darby, who resigned after two profit warnings. The restructuring is accompanying a major drive to train and motivate the Scunthorpe company“s sales team and regional business managers. The news came as the group reported poor six-month results, which had been expected following the warnings. The group reported a pre-tax loss of UK 300,000 compared with a UK 1.3 million profit in the same period last year on the back of a 6% fall in turnover to UK 11.6 million. Finance director Martin Hopcraft said it remained to be seen whether the group would return to profit in the second half, but said it would be a challenge for second-half sales to match those in the first half. The group intends to place a greater emphasis on margin rather than volumes. The decision to shift power from the central operations in Scunthorpe to the regional offices will make each centre more accountable for its own profits. At the same time, value-added processed products such as freezer cabinet lids, bus shelters and shower screens will be run separately from the glazing operation.