Gerry Murphy to head Kingfisher

The successor to Kingfisher boss Sir Geoffrey Mulcahy, 60, has been decided: Gerry Murphy, 46, is to be appointed to the position. Mulcahy will resign as chief executive on 1 November, then officially take leave of the board on 30 April 2003 after spending 20 years with the company. Since the year 2000 Murphy has been chief executive of Carlton Communications, a leading UK media group. Previous to that he was head of the logistics company Exel, and also occupied other positions. He will take up his duties at Kingfisher by 2 February 2003 at the latest, when the new financial year commences. Chairman of the board Francis Mackay will be in charge of management in any interim period.