Kimpton hires five from fallen rival HE Simm

Ian Bruce, Peter O’Keefe, Neil Davies, John Glynn, and Shane Hartley have all found new jobs at the Wirral-based firm after their previous employer went bust in September.

The five men were among the 128 staff who lost their jobs when HE Simm entered administration six weeks ago.

Kimpton has appointed Bruce as operations director, O’Keeffe as work-winning director, Davies as divisional manager, Glynn as work-winning lead estimator, and Hartley as project manager.

The £25m turnover Kimpton has swooped for the senior quintet of former HE Simm staffers to bolster its technical operations capacity and drive growth following a management buyout a year ago.

Tim Davis, managing director at Kimpton, said: “The completion of our MBO almost a year ago, and the growth we have achieved over the past few years, have given us a really strong platform for further growth. Kimpton has a new outlook, with fresh leadership, and that has been further reinforced with the recruitment of a stellar team of five talented and experienced industry operators.

“Ian, Peter, Neil, John, and Shane each bring a wealth of specialist client experience and we are delighted to be able to blend them with the existing expertise within our business as we set about achieving our next phase of expansion across a range of client service areas.”

Ian Bruce, who was operations director at HE Simm for almost 14 years, said “Kimpton is a highly-respected operator in M&E and HVAC services, and is also successfully expanding its footprint into other services, so the strength of the firm is clear, as is the potential for future growth, founded on a fresh perspective.

“We arrive as a team, but we are looking forward to integrating our experience and our client network with those of our new colleagues. We are excited for this next chapter in our careers and the opportunities it can bring for ourselves, Kimpton and its clients.”