18 January 2024

Northern Bear plc

("Northern Bear," the "Company")

Board Changes

Northern Bear (LSE:NTBR), the AIM quoted holding company of the group of companies providing specialist building and support services headquartered in Northern England and serving customers across the UK, announces the following changes to the Board of Directors of the Company:

Keith Soulsby

Keith Soulsby, Group Operations Director, has notified the Board of his decision to retire and accordingly will be ceasing his role with the Company and retiring as a Director with effect from 31 March 2024.

Keith has enjoyed a long and successful career in the construction industry, having founded Wensley Roofing Limited and built it into an established, well regarded roofing contractor in the North East of England.

Wensley Roofing was one of the four companies that were amalgamated to form the initial Northern Bear Group upon Admission to AIM in 2006. Keith has been a Board member of the Company for the majority of the subsequent period.  He has made a huge contribution to the Group's success and has been a trusted and valued colleague to everyone at Northern Bear.  Keith has overseen the Group's commercial and operational activities since March 2020 and has helped to steer the Group through some major challenges since then, including the COVID-19 pandemic and related labour and supply chain issues.

Keith retires with the best wishes from all of his colleagues, and we wish him and his family every success and happiness in his retirement.

John Davies

The Board is pleased to announce the appointment of John Davies as an Executive Director of the Company with immediate effect.

John was appointed as Managing Director of Arcas Building Solutions Limited ("Arcas") in June 2023, and has since made significant operational and commercial improvements to that business.

John has had an illustrious career in the construction industry and held senior positions as Managing Director of Meldrum Group and Chief Operating Officer of Esh Group, at which he oversaw substantial profitable growth.  The ultimate aim when John was recruited was to provide succession for Keith Soulsby, and John has operated as part of the Group's senior management team in recent months. 

John will become Group Chief Executive Officer with effect from 1 April 2024.  We would like to welcome John to the Board, and all look forward to working with him.  In the short term, John will also continue to oversee operations at Arcas.

Steve Roberts

The Board is also pleased to announce the reappointment, with immediate effect, of Steve Roberts as an Executive Director of the Company.  Upon standing down as Executive Chairman in August 2021, Steve remained part of the Group's operational management team and a director of all subsidiary companies.  Steve has also been involved with the Group since inception and has served as both Group Finance Director and Executive Chairman.  Given his vast experience of the Group and its employees, Steve will provide valuable continuity to the Board and support John as he transitions to his role as Group CEO.    

Further information:

The following details in relation to the appointments of John Davies and Steve Roberts as directors of the Company are disclosed in accordance with AIM Rule 17 and Schedule 2(g) of the AIM Rules:

John Peter Davies (aged 57) has held the following directorships and/or partnerships in the past five years:

Steven Mark Roberts (aged 57) has held the following directorships and/or partnerships in the past five years:

Steve Roberts currently holds 813,300 shares in the Company.

Save as disclosed above, there is no further information to be disclosed in relation to the director appointments pursuant to AIM Rule 17 or Schedule Two, paragraph (g) (i)-(viii) of the AIM Rules for Companies.

For further information, please contact:

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 as it forms part of United Kingdom domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.