BALMORAL Group, the Aberdeen-based diversified engineering company, announced a new recruit to its boardroom team yesterday.
It said former corporate banker Gary Gerrard, 45, had been appointed non-executive to advise and help with all aspects of the business.
chairman and managing director Jim Milne said: “I have absolutely no doubt that his experience will be of great benefit to the company. We developed a strong working relationship with Gary when he was with Bank of Scotland (BoS) and I am delighted that he is joining the board.”
Mr Gerrard held a variety of roles during his 28-year career with BoS and, more recently, Lloyds Banking Group. His senior positions included head of corporate banking in Scotland and regional managing director of corporate property business covering Scotland and the north of England.
Mr Gerrard left Lloyds last month to focus on commercial interests in oil and gas, and also the property sector.
He said: “I am delighted to be joining Balmoral at such an exciting time in the group’s development.”
The banker, who has known Mr Milne and his management team for more than eight years, said it was also a privilege to be joining a business in excellent financial shape. He added: “Three years ago Balmoral was trading at break-even, with more than £20million of debt.
“Today, the group is highly profitable, has largely repaid its debt from internal cash generation and has a very strong balance sheet.”