An ‘interesting’ development at project-based science and technology R&D outsourcing consultancy, Sagentia, sees non-executive chairman, Martyn Ratcliffe ‘go executive’ with the announced exit of three-year CEO, Brent Hudson. This looks like a permanent move as there are no plans to recruit a new CEO; instead Ratcliffe has promoted a couple of business unit heads to become joint-MDs of the consulting side of Sagentia. Ratcliffe is perhaps better known in his roles as chairman of Microgen and executive chairman of RM. There’ll be a hit on the P&L from Hudson’s exit, excluding which Ratcliffe expects ‘a satisfactory operating outcome’ for the FY.
Ratcliffe was appointed chairman at Sagentia in 2010 after making an investment in the company with a view to help put the business on a more commercial footing. Prior to this, Sagentia’s shares were trading under 20p. The shares are now over 85p, even after a contract suspension earlier in the year forced a warning (see here).
So it seems Sagentia now needs some direct ‘therapy’ from turnaround specialist Ratcliffe to achieve that ‘satisfactory outcome’. He will of course also be able to call on the sage advice of ex-Phoenix CEO (and ex-Fujitsu et al) David Courtley, who was appointed non-exec director at Sagentia the same day that Ratcliffe took the chair.