Pennon Group, the owner of Viridor, has announced that current chief executive Ian McAulay has left the group with immediate effect to pursue other opportunities.
Phil Peddington, the chief operating officer for Viridor who is responsible for delivering Viridor’s energy from waste business, has been appointed managing director.
Pennon non-executive chairman Sir John Parker said: “The board would like to thank Ian for his valuable contribution to the company and wishes him every success.
“Ian leaves Viridor on track to meet management expectations for 2016/17.
“We are delighted to welcome Phil as managing director of Viridor where his wealth of operational experience will be an asset to the company. I am pleased that the depth of talent within the group has resulted in our being able to fill this role from within the organisation.”
Ian McAulay added: “It has been my pleasure to be at the helm of Viridor for the last three years and I’m very proud of the transformation that has been achieved in that time. We have evolved rapidly from a predominantly landfill company with a local focus, to a sophisticated and centralised waste management, recycling and energy recovery firm with an extensive UK asset base.
“Our £1.5bn investment in ERF assets has been particularly successful and, despite many challenges along the way, we have led the way in the UK in bringing these assets into operation. The contribution of these assets to the company’s future success has been underpinned by securing many long term feedstock supply contracts. Together this has been transformative to earnings for the company.
“We have also made great progress in improving business performance in recycling even in very difficult economic conditions and again stand in a good place to go forward.”
