Changes at the top at Stanley Black & Decker

Big changes have been announced at Stanley Black & Decker, the world’s largest tool company. The company board elected Andrea J Ayers Chair of the board effective from 22 April.

Sir George W Buckley will retire as Chair of the Board as well as from the Board of Directors in order to comply with Governance Guidelines.

Adrian V Mitchell was elected as a director. His recent roles have been at Macy’s as a director and Chief Financial Officer.

Ayers acknowledged Sir George’s contribution to the governance of the company over the last fifteen years, starting as a director of Black and Decker, and then when the company merged with Stanley in 2010. Under his leadership the company has grown into ‘the largest tool company in the world’ with a strong focus on innovation, performance and ESG.

Sir George started out as an apprentice at the Stanley factory in Sheffield and rose to the heights of Director at B and D in 2006. He has also been on the boards of the 3M Company and Brunswick Group and retains positions on the boards of Hitachi and Smiths Group PLC.

Andrea J Ayers’ background and career have a strong theme of customer management. As President and CEO of Convergys Corporation she developed it to be customer management solutions company with expertise in customer experience, analytics and technology.

At B and D Stanley she also has been a big contributor as Chair of the Compensation and Talent Development Committee as well as a member of the Finance and Pension Committee.

New Director Adrian Mitchell has a number of roles, largely to do with finance, property, accounting and procurement, to name but a few. He has a 25 year long history as a financial adviser and consultant. He qualified as a Chemical Engineer at Louisiana State and also has an MBA from Harvard.

Stanley Black & Decker is headquartered in the USA and is reportedly the world’s largest tool company. It has nearly 50 manufacturing facilities in the US and over 100 worldwide. With 60,000 employees the company makes a wide range of hand and power tools, lifestyle products and other equipment. The company aims to take the lead in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) as well as being a force for good in support of communities, employees and customers. Its brands include DEWALT, Black and Decker, CRAFTSMAN and Stanley.

www.stanleyblackanddecker.com