26 June 08 – Appointment of new Non-Executive Director for Remploy Ltd

Peter Smith has been appointed as a Non-Executive Director of Remploy, The United Kingdom’s leading provider of employment opportunities for disabled people.

Announcing the appointment, Anne McGuire, Minister for Disabled People, said:

“I am very pleased that Peter Smith will be joining the Board of Remploy.  Peter will bring the much needed Public Procurement expertise to the Board, that will be required to assist the company meet their challenging sales targets”.

Ian Russell, Chairman of Remploy said,

“The modernisation plan for Remploy is critically dependent on increasing sales to the public sector. We are working very hard on this and the advice and guidance of Peter as a non executive director will make another significant contribution to our efforts”.

Notes to Editors

1. Remploy Ltd is an Executive Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB), sponsored by the Department for Work and Pensions. It receives a grant-in-aid each year in exchange for delivering a range of employment opportunities for around 11,500 disabled people under the Government’s WORKSTEP programme. Remploy delivers this support by operating as a commercial organisation with 54 business sites and also by providing support to disabled people working with other employers through its Employment Services business.
2. The Company has a large presence in the school furniture business. It supplies clothing for the armed forces, and it has an automotive business, which supplies companies such as Honda, Ford and Land Rover. In addition it operates managed services on customer sites including CCTV or call centre operations.
3. In announcing the final modernisation plan of Remploy on 29 November 2007, the Secretary of State said there would be 17 factory closures and 11 mergers with other factories, down from 32 closures proposed in May 2007. The sales target for public procurement would increase to £461 million over five years, up from £298 million since the company's proposals in May last year. That is a huge and challenging 130 per cent increase over the current rate of sales of £200 million. There will be a total cost saving of £59 million from around 25 per cent, achieved through changes in working practices, reductions in non-wage costs and fewer managers.
4. The company propose to be placing 20,000 disabled people into work by year 5 of the Modernisation Plan.
5. The appointment of Remploy Non-Executive Directors is the responsibility of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. The recruitment and selection process was in accordance with the Office for the Commissioner for Public Appointments (OCPA) Code of Practice. Mr Smith is a member of the Legal Services Commission.
6. The appointments as Non-Executive Directors are for an initial 3-year period and attract remuneration of £7,500 per annum. The appointment will begin on 16 June 2008.
7. All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, in accordance with original Nolan recommendations, there is a requirement for appointees’ political activity to be made public. Mr Smith has declared he does not undertake any political activity.
8. Peter Smith has worked within the Procurement field since the start of his career, almost 30 years ago. He has worked as a procurement director for the Dun & Bradstreet Group, the Department of Social Security, and the NatWest Group. He currently runs his own procurement advisory and training firm.

 

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