Macpherson joins May Gurney

AIM-traded May Gurney Integrated Services, the provider of essential maintenance to public and regulated sector clients, has appointed former investment banker Ishbel Macpherson as a non-executive director.

Macpherson, already a May Gurney enthusiast with 5,000 shares, whose most recent banking role was as head of UK emerging companies corporate finance at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, is well versed in the machinations of the public company world. Formerly a director of FTSE 250 support services group MITIE, she already holds non-executive directorships at computer games retailer GAME Group, equipment rental company Speedy Hire, funeral services specialist Dignity and specialist recruiter Hydrogen.

May Gurney chairman David Sterry, OBE, believes this background makes Macpherson ‘ideally placed’ to chair the group’s audit committee as from July, when present incumbent David Galloway retires, and, of course, her corporate finance know-how should prove useful to May Gurney as the business continues to grow organically and via carefully selected acquisitions.

Shares in May Gurney, which grew profits more than 20 per cent to £8.5 million in the six months to September, are presently priced at 212.25p, against 52-week highs and lows of 277.75p and 133.5p, valuing the business at £149 million.