Mike Smith joins Birse as marketing director

Mike Smith has joined Birse as marketing director of its £260 million-a-year building division. Smith was previously with Hall and Tawse.

"Hall and Tawse is the only major contractor never to have made a loss in its history," said Smith.

"Contractors often say they are changing their way of doing business, but in many cases this is pure rhetoric. Birse has a different culture and it comes right from Peter Birse at the top. The group is unique in that every employee has been through a training and cultural programme."

After Hall and Tawse was bought by Mansell, Smith found his duties overlapped with those performed by Mansell director Geoffrey Bell and it was clear to Smith that he had to move.

Last year, Birse's building division "made a contribution" to Birse Construction's £4.1 million operating profit, said Smith. "Birse is thought of as a civils firm, yet we are, in fact, one of the Top 10 UK building contractors.

"Also, with a tally of 1.8 million m2 in the last three years, we are market leader in the provision of facilities for the logistics and distribution firms."