City File: Proving time

BY THE end of this year a substantially new team will be in place at Siebe, the international controls and engineering group, and the market is worried that it will be unable to build on the miraculous successes of the past - profit margins are now 15 per cent, against a sector average nearer 10 per cent. Barrie Stephens, creator of Siebe in its present form, hands over the chief executive's role at the end of the year and three of the group's senior executives are also leaving, to be replaced by four managers who have all been appointed within the past year. The shares finished the week at 525p - too high until the new boys prove themselves.