Menzies in search to replace David McIntosh

DAVID McIntosh, head of John Menzies’ struggling distribution division, is to leave the company after 25 years with the Edinburgh-based group.

David McIntosh has been with John Menzies for 25 years. Picture: Contributed

His departure has been “mutually agreed”, the company said today, with McIntosh continuing in his current role until a replacement is found. The search for his successor will include both internal and external candidates.

McIntosh, a chartered accountant, joined the group in 1989 as a financial analyst. He went on to hold the roles of finance director and commercial and marketing director before becoming head of distribution in 2009.

The division, which delivers five million newspapers a day, is highly cash-generative and has given Menzies the resources to expand into the aviation services sector. However, flagging sales of magazines and sticker albums led the group to warn in November that full-year profits would fall short of expectations.

The division made an underlying operating profit of £11.8 million in the first half, down from £13.5m during the same period a year earlier.

Recent news has been more upbeat, with the announcement earlier this month that Menzies had successfully renegotiated magazine distribution contracts worth £180m a year.

That came just weeks after the renewal of a £150m contract with Daily Record owner Trinity Mirror.

In a statement, Menzies chairman Iain Napier said McIntosh was leaving to “pursue other interests”, but there was no further indication today as to what those might be.