Following the announcement that Nigel Rees would be retiring after 14 years as chief executive of the Glass and Glazing Federation (GGF), seven ‘outstanding applicants’ were selected as his potential successor of which three were shortlisted. However, the GGF board could not arrive at a consensus to appoint any of the candidates and will now go through the full recruitment process again in the first quarter of this year.
Due to these unforeseen circumstances, the GGF board has unanimously agreed to appoint Brian Baker, former GGF president and current chairman of the board, to act as interim chief executive.
Alan Burgess, GGF president-elect, commented: “Finding the perfect replacement for Nigel is perhaps the single most important appointment we as directors are likely to make. Being a significant appointment, all directors were focused upon finding the right candidate, but equally, not at any cost. It was agreed early on that if agreement could not be reached, then the harder decision to rerun the process had to be made.
“In anticipation of a large leadership vacuum at the GGF, I am delighted that our retiring president, Brian Baker, has most kindly agreed to step into this role until the arrival of the new CEO. As President for the past three years and vice president for two years prior, Brian couldn’t be more passionate about the GGF, its staff and members. He has invested much personal time and overseen many challenging issues, particularly over the last year. He is the ideal interim replacement. He has also been active both with the GGF and Helix Group on their actions from the governance and structure review.”
Brian Baker said: “I am pleased to help the GGF during this transitional period. I am confident we will have our new permanent chief executive in place in the next three or so months. I would like to take this opportunity to wish Nigel the very best and thank him for his many years of service and wish him all the best for his retirement.”
