Kingfisher appoints Gerry Murphy as chief executive

B&Q-to-Comet retailer Kingfisher yesterday appointed Carlton Communications boss Mr Gerry Murphy to succeed veteran chief executive Sir Geoffrey Mulcahy.

Mr Murphy, who has been in charge at the ITV broadcaster since July 2000, is expected to take up his new role by February at the latest.

His appointment comes six months after Sir Geoffrey announced his desire to leave the company he joined in 1982 and became chief executive of in 1982.

The 60-year-old will step down tomorrow, leaving Kingfisher chairman Mr Francis Mackay to take the helm before Mr Murphy's arrival.

Mr Murphy's departure from Carlton comes as the broadcaster moves towards a single ITV following its agreement to merge with Granada earlier this month.

The tie-up would have left Mr Murphy without a role as Granada boss Mr Charles Allen is to lead the operation with Mr Michael Green of Carlton as chairman.

Mr Murphy, who has dual Irish and British nationality and is 46 years old, joined Carlton after five years as chief executive of logistics company Exel.

He was previously chief executive of Greencore.

He takes the helm at Kingfisher as it prepares to split off its electrical division and focus on DIY businesses, which also include Castorama in France.

The group has already spun off its Woolworths retail division.

Mr Mackay said the new chief executive had the leadership skills to ensure that Kingfisher continued the strategy with a "clear sense of purpose".

He also paid tribute to Sir Geoffrey, who he said had been an outstanding figure in British business and critical to Kingfisher's success.

Sir Geoffrey said he was proud of the way the business had developed from a company with a market value of £105 million sterling (€166.3 million) in 1982 to one valued at £5.6 billion today.

It has annual turnover of £9.6 billion from more than 1,400 outlets in 17 countries.

He added: "Naturally, I am sad to be leaving the business before the process of transformation, which we started two years ago, is finally complete.

"It is clearly important that no momentum is lost in integrating Castorama and finalising the separation of the electricals business."

While Sir Geoffrey was appointed chief executive in 1986, he had spells as chairman and executive chairman between 1990 and 1995.