Erinaceous hires Lavelle as FD
Troubled firm makes surprise appointment by bringing in McAlpine's ex-FD, who fell on his sword at the construction giant after serious accounting issues were uncovered
Dominic Lavelle has been unveiled as the shock choice for the FD job at
property services company Erinaceous.
The appointment may come as a surprise to nervy investors as Lavelle’s last
post was at McAlpine, where accounting irregularities went unnoticed for five
years.
Lavelle, who was not implicated in the issue, resigned from his post in the
wake of the scandal.
Erinaceous
said: ‘The company is pleased to announce the appointment of Dominic Lavelle to
the position of executive director. Dominic will be taking over the role of
finance director from Michael Pearson, who has now resigned from the board. Both
of these changes are effective as at 15 October 2007.’
Last month, the board of Erinaceous admitted that it was in talks with its
lenders after it broke its banking covenants. As a result, Fursa a powerful
hedge fund with a 17% stake in Erinaceous has been spearheading moves to boot
out the current management.
The investor is trying to oust chief exec Nigel Turnbull and company founder
Neil Bellis, who is still on the board after relinquishing executive control to
Turnbull.
Fursa has lined up Keith Hamill, chairman of Moss Bros and a former finance
chief of WH Smith, to head up the company if it convinces other shareholders
that the board overhaul is needed.
Lavelle said: ‘I am looking forward to joining the team and working on the
stabilisation, strengthening and growth of Erinaceous.’
Further reading:
McAlpine
probe nets Deloitte £6m