黑洞社区

ISG chief executive Matt Blowers has left the firm after just over two years in the role.

He was appointed at the start of 2022 and took over from Paul Cossell who had been in the role ever since the firm delisted from the stock exchange in 2016 after a takeover battle was finally won by the firm鈥檚 current US owner Cathexis.

Blowers, who was previously in charge of the firm鈥檚 fit-out business and has been at ISG since 1998 when he joined as an assistant construction manager, has been replaced by the firm鈥檚 global chief operating officer Zoe Price who has been at ISG since 2012.

In a statement, the firm said: 鈥淚SG has announced the appointment of Zoe Price as CEO, following the decision by Matt Blowers to leave the business after 26 years, with the last two years as CEO. Additionally, the company has appointed Andrew Page as Interim CFO, with current CFO Karen Booth leaving the business at the end of March.鈥�

Price, who has been a member of ISG鈥檚 statutory board since 2020, added: 鈥淚鈥檇 like to pay tribute to the contribution that both Matt and Karen have made to the ISG business. We have not been immune to the challenging landscape of the construction industry over the past few years, but our focus on collaboration and quality delivery, alongside our investment in our people have characterised this period.

鈥淟ooking forward, I鈥檓 determined to build on this legacy, but also seek to more fundamentally reset how our business, and the wider industry responds to the growing challenges to our sector. That is going to take different thinking. We cannot expect to attract the talent and creativity our sector needs to thrive, through the continuation of behaviours and approaches that deliver the status-quo. I鈥檓 looking forward to the challenge of helping to make a change that will be positive across construction.鈥�

One source said: 鈥淚 worry what subcontractors will make of all of this. We all heard the rumours last year and I just hope things are OK.鈥�

>> See also: ISG鈥檚 new boss on different thinking, growth aspirations - and more of the same

News of Blowers鈥� departure comes a few months after the firm was forced to respond to rumours that swept the industry about the financial health of the company.

In November, the firm told 黑洞社区: 鈥淪ome six to eight weeks ago, we were alerted to unsubstantiated, wholly inaccurate and false claims that were circulating about our business.

鈥淎s you would expect, we actively reached out to our stakeholders with facts and truth, and have received strong support and further strengthened many of our existing relationships.鈥�

In its last set of results, ISG saw income in 2022 slip to 拢2.19bn, from 拢2.26bn the year before, while pre-tax profit was down 38% to 拢11.5m. The firm is expected to publish its 2023 results in the spring.