24.04.2023

Sparrows leadership team to go

French international scaffold contractor and services group Altrad has announced the departure of most of the leadership team of Sparrows Group which it acquired last July.

They include: chief executive Stewart Mitchell, chief financial officer Neil Johnson, chief technical officer Ewen Kerr, HSEQ director Bob Jamieson, Human Resources director Laura Lee and Charlie Topp – executive director for the Middle East, India, Caspian and Asia Pacific. Matt Corbin the regional operations director for Europe remains along with Adam Wood, senior vice president for the Americas Dave Buckham - regional operations director for Africa, and Mikkel Lund chief executive of the Alpha wind business.

The announcement was made this morning in a video posted on the Sparrows website, it details the move from a standalone headquarters in Aberdeen to a regional structure with individual regions reporting into Altrad, which is based Montpelier, France. Those leaving will apparently remain on board until the end of May and assist with the changes.
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(L-R)Top row Stewart Mitchell, Neil Johnson and Ewen Kerr, Bottom row Bob Jamieson, Laura Lee and Charlie Topp

When Altrad acquired Sparrows last July it stated that the business would operate autonomously as an individual entity, in much the same way as other Altrad companies function. The company has an entrepreneurial philosophy, which allows each business to manage its own affairs. We have been told that this morning’s video came as a complete surprise to many of those that will be affected. We have contacted the company for a comment on this and in order to obtain its version of events. We have yet to hear back.
The video can be seen in full by clicking here or you can use the following link: https://vimeo.com/818790914/5afea09060.
Since posting this news item the company has decided to block the video from public access, and installed a password requirement. even though it really did not say that much more than we have reported.

The announcement said: “Following the acquisition Sparrows will move to a regional operational model to better align with Altrad’s existing – and highly successful - business model. This will not have an impact on any existing or potential customers and will support Sparrows’ ambitions of expanding its global reach and service offering, offering it more direct access to Altrad’s experience and scale in the industrial services sector.”

“The senior leadership team chief executive officer, chief financial officer, chief technical officer and HR director will all leave the business on the 31st of May, at which stage regional directors and managers will be responsible for the leadership of the business. Many of the regional leaders have been in the company for over 10 years and, supported by Altrad’s support functions, will provide important continuity to ongoing operations. Alpha Offshore Service, Sparrows’ wind energy business, will continue to be run by its existing management.”

Altrad’s joint chief executive Ran Oren said: “Sparrows has continued to perform well, if not better than expected, and we are delighted to have Sparrows as part of the Altrad family. The move to this new structure will allow us to provide better support to the business, while the experience in the regional leadership teams provides continuity of service to customers so they can be assured of the same high levels of delivery.”

“I would like to thank all the senior leadership team who are leaving the business for their very significant contributions and wish them all the best as they move on to new challenges.”

Vertikal Comment

It is probably best to wait until we hear from Altrad before commenting, so that we have a more balanced input on what has actually happened than what we currently have. Judging from the initial feedback from people and companies in the offshore industry, it seems very strange indeed to have dropped the entire team, including long serving and highly experienced technical staff barely nine months after making the acquisition. Especially when in the company’s own words, it “has continued to perform well, and even better than expected.”

Upate:

The following statement was recieved following our request. It came from Sparrows, rather than Altrad "A Sparrows Group spokesperson said: “The changes in senior management are a natural evolution of the business following its acquisition by the Altrad Group last year. The business will operate as usual and will be managed and led by our qualified technical specialists - who have decades of experience both within the company and in the wider industry. This will not impact any existing or potential customers operations, other than furthering the expansion of services and expertise available through the Altrad Group.”

Given that it does not add anything to the initial report we have not updated the comment.