Logistics company Damco has appointed a new chief executive for its UK & Ireland operations after two executives were dismissed over alleged financial irregularities.
Former ceo Aron Newton and chief financial officer Shaun McLean had their contracts terminated on 3 February, according to Companies House.
Newton has been replaced by Paul Gallagher, who has worked in the shipping, logistics and forwarding industry for almost 30 years, with immediate effect.
Damco’s auditor KPMG uncovered irregularities at the closing of the branch’s 2010 accounts, which resulted in a substantial reduction in profits for the year.
Damco UK manages cargo logistics on behalf of a number of UK retailers, including Asda’s fresh produce category management firm International Produce and Marks & Spencer.
McLean had been working with Damco UK as a director since January 2010, while Newton was appointed as a director in April 2008.
Damco is part of the AP Møller-Maersk group which last week announced record profits of $5.01 billion for 2010.
Gallagher has held a number of senior positions in Damco with these roles including a tenure of more than 16 years as the managing director of Damco Sea & Air.
Kim Hedegaard Sørensen, ceo of Damco Europe, said: “We are very glad to have Paul Gallagher appointed as our new ceo in UK & Ireland. We have been very thorough in identifying the right person, and Paul’s knowledge about our customers, company and the market was a key factor when offering the position to Paul Gallagher.”
Gallagher also responded to rumours Damco’s UK operations were about to close. He told Eurofruit: “We’re not closing any offices and there was never any intention of doing so. Damco is absolutely committed to providing the UK market with freight forwarding and supply chain management services.
“We’re very keen to develop our reefer business further - in fact it’s one of our key strategic objectives to build the reefer part of our business in the next couple of years.”
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