- Quinn will be replaced on an interim basis by Conservative donor Lord Ashcroft.
- He joined Marlowe after a 13-year stint as Berendsen’s CFO.
Lord Ashcroft has been appointed interim chairman of business services specialist Marlowe after his predecessor resigned following the sale of a large part of the company’s operations.
Kevin Quinn had been chief executive of Marlowe since 2019, joining after a 13-year stint as chief financial officer of textile services provider Berendsen.
In February, the company agreed to sell certain governance, risk and compliance software and services operations for £430 million to private equity investor Inflexion.
Entrepreneurial: Marlowe was co-founded by Conservative Party donor Lord Ashcroft
These assets provided about a fifth of the group’s total revenue and 40 percent of adjusted profits before the unpleasantries.
Now that it has been divested, Marlowe plans to use the proceeds from the sale to pay down debt, a special dividend of £150m and a share buyback worth up to £75m.
Quinn will be replaced on an interim basis by company co-founder Lord Ashcroft, who bought £19m of Marlowe shares last month.
Ashcroft’s purchase coincided with the sale of a large stake by Marlowe’s other co-founder and recently deceased chief executive, Alex Dacre, son of former Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre.
The philanthropist and Conservative Party donor told investors: ‘The board extends its sincere thanks to Kevin for his dedicated service and commitment as chairman of Marlowe.
“Kevin has made a significant contribution to the development of Marlowe throughout his six years in the role and we wish him all the best for the future.”
Founded as a cash shell in 2015, Marlowe has expanded through dozens of acquisitions and healthy organic growth to become a company with an annual turnover of more than £500m.
The London-listed company specializes in regulatory compliance and provides services including health and safety, employment law, occupational health, fire safety and human resources.
Its clients range from Tesco to JD Wetherspoon, Wembley and Twickenham stadiums, the Houses of Parliament and Haven Holidays owner Bourne Leisure.
In its latest trading update, the company said revenue from continuing operations for the current financial year was expected to be £292m for its testing, inspection and certification business and £111m for its occupational health.
Analysts at Investec said: “We believe it now represents a unique opportunity for investors, with the Marlowe Group returning to its streamlined and historically very successful growth story of buying and building ICT.”
marlowe actions They rose 4.2 per cent to 581.25 pence on Monday morning and have risen about 42 per cent since the start of the year.
