Harper hands reins to Smith as Angel Biotech revamp continues

By KRISTY DORSEY
Published on 13/10/2012 00:00

THE head of Angel Biotechnology is to step down after eight years at the helm as part of an on-going restructuring programme aimed at generating what the company has described as “sustainable earnings”.

Paul Harper has resigned with immediate effect as executive chairman, though he will remain in a non-executive post until the end of the year. He hands over to Nicholas Smith, who becomes non-executive chairman.

Meanwhile, day-to-day operations will continue under acting chief executive Stewart White, who has been in the post since the departure of Gordon Sherriff seven months ago.

Smith is currently finance director of Almond Engineering in Livingston, where he was involved in the management buy-out in April 2008. He is also the owner of Durham-based Eurowater, which provides financial services to customers in the utilities and environmental sectors.

Harper will spend the remainder of his time with the company closing out a number of projects, the biggest of which it the completion of a joint venture deal with Russian firm Materia Medica Holdings (MMH). The base for that partnership had been destined for Angel’s newly-overhauled facility in Cramlington, but is now being set up in the head office at Edinburgh’s Pentlands Science Park.

Last month Angel Biotechnology warned that delays in signing big contracts would drag down its full-year results.

The company made a pre-tax loss of £1.3m in its last financial year to 31 March after a sharp rise in costs related primarily to the re-opening of Cramlington.