Perkins Slade to unveil more change at the top

West Midlands broker Perkins Slade is set to unveil further changes to its management following the appointment of Nick Tamblyn as managing director.

Tamblyn, previously financial director, was promoted at a board meeting last week which also saw the firm’s chairman David Slade become non executive chairman.

Slade said Tamblyn was set to install his own team but insisted he would not interfere. “There are some more changes that will come this month,” he said. “We will have to wait and see.”

Slade would not comment on the further changes but refused to rule out appointments from outside the business.

Last month, Perkins Slade announced that it had terminated its discussions with Oval, after the consolidator said it was freezing its pipeline of acquisitions because of the current poor economic conditions. In a statement, Perkins Slade said it would now focus on remaining independent.

Slade said the business might look to acquire other brokers rather than merging with a larger group. “If the right opportunity came along we have the resources to do so, without depending on venture capital money,” he said.

Harry Towers, non executive director, will retire from the board at the end of the year, and will be replaced by Ron Forrest, formerly non executive chairman.

Slade said it was the right time for the £50m gross written premium broker to implement its management succession plans. “I started the company 38 years ago, and after 38 years it is time for a big change,” he said.

He added: “I am just going to do the thing that I am best at doing and Nick is going to do the things that he is best at doing, which is management and trying to achieve the aims and ambitions that we have.”

He said Tamblyn’s main responsibility would be to deliver a “better profit rate than it has at the moment”.

He said: “We have very high ambitions in that area. If we want to receive a return on shareholders’ capital then the only way we can do that is to drive the business forward.”