During his thirty years of international experience, Steve held a number of managing director, commercial development, and performance improvement positions at Praxair Surface Technologies, a prominent global surface treatment company that is currently a part of the Linde Group. Since 2018, Steve has operated his own consulting firm, Sketchley GmbH, providing strategic, business development, and operational improvement project advice to several coatings firms, including Hardide. Steve graduated from the University of Sheffield with a master’s degree in metallurgical engineering.
For several months now, Steve and Hardide have been collaborating on the creation of a direct-to-end-user sales channel for coated consumable components. For a maximum of six months, Steve will assume the role of CEO and join the Hardide Board. Following this, it is anticipated that he will continue to collaborate with the Group on other global business growth prospects.
Delivering on Hardide’s goal requires accelerating revenue growth while concentrating on near-term sales potential for increasing regular base load business. Prior to the anticipated appointment of a permanent CEO later in the year, Steve’s appointment to this position will contribute to the advancement of this strategy by building on the groundwork established by Phil.
The non-executive chair, Andrew Magson, said, Steve Paul’s appointment as our temporary CEO fills us with great pleasure. Steve is already working with Hardide on a number of intriguing near-term sales prospects, and his wide leadership and commercial experience in the surface treatment business will be useful to Hardide as we refine and focus our approach to accelerate revenue development.
We at Hardide are incredibly appreciative of Phil Kirkham’s many years of steadfast Group leadership. He has created a fantastic foundation for development. Phil has our best wishes for the future.
He expressed his satisfaction that several skilled candidates who, like Steve, share the Board’s view of the promising prospects to expand the commercialization of Hardide’s exclusive coatings technology and the possibility of the Group producing major value for all stakeholders in the medium to long run have been found during the process of hiring a new permanent CEO for Hardide.
