Directors

Richard Gwynne Smith - Executive Chairman
Richard qualified as a chartered surveyor with Debenham Tie Lung and has over 25 years’ of experience in the property industry. In 1981 he founded Smith French and Partners, a property services and consultancy business, which was subsequently sold to London and Manchester Assurance in 1987. During this time he also carried out a variety of residential and commercial property developments. In 1989 he co-founded and was managing director of Artesian Estates plc, a BES investment company which along with two sister companies, of which he was also managing director, raised £13.5m by public subscription. These three companies ultimately merged and were floated on the London Stock Exchange. In 1991 Richard founded HML, of which he was chief executive and majority shareholder. HML promoted and managed BES property investment companies (and their property portfolios) with a combined gross capitalisation of over £25m. HML was sold to LTC for shares in 1998 and Richard continued to grow HML in his role as chief executive. He was appointed chairman of LTC in 2000.

Robert Henry Charles Plumb – Chief Executive
Rob qualified as a chartered accountant at Ernst & Young in South Africa and subsequently transferred to their London offices as audit manager. In 1981 he joined the American financial services conglomerate, Avco Trust plc, where he was rose to the position of managing director of the UK in 1992. His work at Avco Trust plc included growing the European business to operate in five additional European countries and overseeing the management of over 1,000 employees in 120 retail branch offices and call centres. He became the chief executive of European operations at Associates Capital Corporation, when it acquired Avco in 1999. His work included overseeing the operations in the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Spain and France. In 2000, Rob joined Hercules Property Services Plc, a company quoted on the London Stock Exchange, as managing director. During Rob’s four year tenure at Hercules, he managed the integration and consolidation of a number of acquisitions and developed the corporate infrastructure that enabled the various divisions of the company to become leaders in their defined markets. He successfully  helped build shareholder value prior to the sale of Hercules to Erinaceous plc in 2004. Rob was appointed as Chief Executive of HML in October 2005.

James Alfred Lloyd Howgego - Finance Director
James qualified as a chartered accountant at Smith & Williamson Limited in 1996. He subsequently moved to Ernst & Young to work in the entrepreneurial services division as an audit manager. He managed a portfolio of entrepreneurial and multinational clients and gained experience working on several company listings. In 2001 he moved to Grant Thornton Corporate Finance, where he gained substantial experience in acquisitions, disposals and other company transactions. In 2003 James left Grant Thornton to take up the position of Finance Director in an acquisitive, venture capitalist backed pub group called The Bar Group Limited, where he assisted in the acquisition and integration of two managed pub groups. James was appointed as Finance Director of HML in January 2006.

Geoffrey John Griggs  - Non-executive Director
Geoffrey qualified as a chartered accountant in 1978 with Peat Marwick Mitchell and then moved to Spicer and Pegler where he became director of finance. He was later appointed managing director of MM&K Limited, a firm of City based specialist financial advisers, then an associated company of Morgan Grenfell. He has been a director of a wide range of companies and is a member of the Securities Institute and a Freeman of the City of London.

Directors roles and responsibilities

The roles and responsibilities of each of the directors is set out below.

Richard Gwynne Smith

• Oversight of business strategy and direction
• Chair board meetings
• Review of systems strategy
• Internal relations

Robert Henry Charles Plumb

• Execution of operating and strategic plans
• Management of all business units
• Management of acquisitions
• Chair of operations committee
• Chair of systems council
• perating policy and procedures
• Risk management
• Public and investor relations

James Alfred Lloyd Howgego

• Statutory and management reporting
• Internal controls
• Treasury management
• FSA and other compliance
• Payroll and administration

Geoffrey John Griggs

• Chairman of remuneration committee
• Chairman of audit committee