UK's metal fabrication to undergo change?

There have been 160 new appointments at director level in the last 18 months in the UK metal fabrication industry, which may generate a transformation and new ideas, says a report.

A wave of new appointments at the top of the UK's largest 250 fabricated metal products companies is set to prompt a radical change in their behaviour and put even greater pressure on those with ageing boardrooms.

That's the view of Plimsoll Publishing, the leading industry analysts who have a track record of predicting business trends in the UK, France and Japan.

There have been 160 new appointments at director level in the last 18 months in an industry with 587 directors in total.

According to Plimsoll, new blood represents a transformation of the industry, with new ideas, renewed focus and different ways of working.

Senior analyst David Pattison said: "There has never been a more important time to take note not just of the companies you are doing business with, but of the decision makers behind those companies.

We all know that companies don't do business with companies - people do business with people.

But the people are changing, and firms will be caught out and lose business as a result, simply because they took a customer, competitor or supplier for granted on the basis of an older management style.

Plimsoll's detailed analysis has investigated each company's financial performance and offers firm views on the challenges the new directors face, as well as the strategies they are deploying to 'stamp their mark' on the industry.

It finds that for 28 of them the challenge is to keep the company afloat, while for 132 others it is to deliver industry-leading performance.

In both cases, a change in the way of doing things looks inevitable.

Said Pattison: "The reasons for the new appointments are varied.

Some have been taken on with the direct objective of finding a buyer for the company, while others look as if they have been appointed to see through a management buyout.

Whatever the reason, this wave of new blood is simply the start.

More than a quarter of directors are over the age of 60, and we will see yet more evolution in the not too distant future.

Directors' salaries vary widely between different industries.

The average is GBP 46,712, but in the property developers industry, for example, a director can pick up nearly GBP 300,000.

Job security varies widely, too, however.

Summing up.

* Average director's salary in the fabricated metal products industry was GBP 22,953 last year.

* UK director's average salary is GBP 68,500.

* Directors' fees increased on average 104%.

* Top earners can see their pay rise to more than GBP 147,000.

* They typical time in office in the fabricated metal products industry is now over six years, compared to the UK average of just over seven years.

This brand new independent analysis of the UK's 587 most influential decision makers and the 250 companies they are responsible for is available now.

Readers of this magazine can obtain the full report for GBP 300 - a discount of GBP 50 - by quoting the code PR02 when ordering online at the Plimsoll Web site.

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