UCM Timber plc has appointed Rod Shuttleworth as the new chief executive officer of its North American subsidiary Meridian Forest Products, based near Portland, Oregon.
He will take up the post on November 20 and initially will be based in British Columbia, close to Meridian’s major supply sources. He will report to chairman Mark Plews.
Mr Shuttleworth spent nine years in the UK timber industry in sales and general management before moving to Canada in 1999, where he has held general management positions.
Mr Plews said Mr Shuttleworth’s experience in both the UK and North America made him ideal to develop Meridian’s business by offering North American suppliers a proven route to UK and European markets.
“We are fully committed to building our presence in North America,” said Mr Plews. “This includes plans to develop our sourcing operations through Meridian Forest Products Inc and make the Meridian brand a strong leader.
“In addition, we have long had the goal of developing sales into North America of forest products sourced by other parts of the UCM Timber Group worldwide.”
In the UK, the sales team responsible for Meridian-sourced products is led by Kevin Ashby, director.
