Anite opens fresh chapter with new chief executive

Anite, the IT consultancy and services company, yesterday named Steve Rowley as its new chief executive - a move that completes the overhaul of its management team and one, it hopes, that will mark the start of a rosier chapter.

Anite was forced to renegotiate a string of acquisitions where earn-out clauses left it exposed to a raft of extra fees. Furthermore, like its rivals, it has suffered from tough market conditions.

Mr Rowley was most recently senior vice president and general manager at the IT company PeopleSoft Europe. Before that, he held senior roles at the US technology company 3Com, at BT Cellnet and at Hitachi and IBM UK. He has agreed to be paid less than his predecessor.

His appointment ends a four-month search for a new chief executive after its former head John Hawkins was ousted in May and comes nine months after the company hired a new finance director, Christopher Humphrey.

David Thorpe, the company's interim chief executive, said there would be no major changes in group strategy and that the company would carry on integrating past acquisitions. "We've come through a period of an intense number of acquisitions. We've stopped that and we are consolidating and integrating the business now," he said. Mr Thorpe added: "What Steve will do is finish the integration of the businesses and he's well experienced at that and will move into, I think, developing our business model and organic growth. It doesn't signal any changes whatsoever."

Two weeks ago, at its annual general meeting, the company warned conditions remained tough and that the current year had started "slowly" but in line with its expectations. It also reiterated that all of its potential earn-out liabilities relating to past acquisitions had been realised, renegotiated or capped.

Mr Thorpe said: "Everything [the earn-out clauses] has been renegotiated. We are completely out of all that exposure and those issues. They've all gone....

"We look forward to continuing to build the business. We've got a very strong team here to take the company to the next stage of its development." He said that he would provide support to Mr Rowley for a transition period and would then revert to being a non-executive director.

Analysts at ABN Amro said: "We had expected, along with some of the market rumours, someone with previous PLC experience. Nevertheless, Rowley appears to have a solid background."