Marshalls chairman to step down by year end

Christopher Burnett, the executive chairman of Marshalls, Britain's biggest maker of concrete block paving, has announced he will be stepping down later this year.

The news came alongside the product manufacturer's trading statement for 2002 which reported a 4% rise in sales and anticipated that "profit before tax should be ahead of market forecasts".

Year-end figures will be lifted by the inclusion of profits from the £13.1m sale of Marshall's flooring business in November to Hanson. This is expected to add £2m to the pre-tax profit.

Burnett, 61, who has held the post of chairman since 1997, said he wanted to retire from the group by the end of the year to "tackle one more corporate turnaround before hanging up my running shoes".

He is expected to be replaced by a non-executive part-time chairman and a chief executive, but no names have yet been disclosed.