Contractor's chief executive postpones retirement until 2005 to oversee rehabilitation of construction arm.
David Calverley will continue as chief executive of Galliford Try until June 2005, two years beyond his original retirement date.

Calverley agreed to stay in position after his heir apparent, deputy chief executive George Marsh, resigned at the end of last year. Marsh's resignation came after the projected 12-month profit for the construction division had fallen by £3.5m.

It had been thought that Calverley would extend his reign until early next year. However, a source close to the company said the board had agreed that he should stay until mid-2005.

The source said: "Over the past 12 months, Galliford Try has had to make sure that it has brought in the right people to turn around the construction division. It will be next year that it turns its mind to other things, such as the next chief executive."

The man most widely tipped to take over from Calverley is Andy Sturgess. He has been running Galliford Try's construction arm since January and has brought it back into profit. He spent the previous five years as UK building managing director at Skanska.

Next year we will turn our minds to a chief executive

Galliford Try source

Calverley declined to speak about the succession, but did comment on this week's confirmation that Exeter-based contractor ROK had pulled out of its bid to take over Galliford Try.

The Galliford Try board had rejected one bid of 51p a share, but Rok approached it with an offer of 54p last week.

Galliford Try managers again argued that this significantly undervalued the worth of the company, perhaps by as much as 16p a share.