Former vice president operations of Ronseal and Sherwin Williams, Mike Polkinghorn has been appointed as production and logistics director at Crown Paints.
Mr Polkinghorn joins the Crown Paints board as part of a major
restructuring programme at the Lancashire based decorative coatings
company following its recent buyout from Dutch conglomerate Akzo Nobel, backed by private equity house Endless LLP.

Crown Paints chairman Graham Hallworth said: "This is the start of a new era for Crown Paints as an independent coatings manufacturer.

"The appointment of such a senior industry figure, who joins us from an $8bn turnover business, should leave no-one in any doubt whatsoever of our total commitment to forge a new future for the company."

"Crown Paints is an excellent long established business with strong brands, a committed workforce and market leading technology and manufacturing competences," he added. "However, it has been operating as a subsidiary of multinational company for well over a decade and if we are to succeed as an independent business we now need a shift in management thinking."