Business Briefs - April 15

Mark Hodges becomes managing director of the key operation at a time when the energy market is the subject of a fullscale competition inquiry.

He spent more than 20 years with Norwich Union and Aviva before leaving in 2011 to become the boss of specialist insurance broker Towergate Partnership. He left that job last October.

Hodges will receive a basic salary of £625,000 and is entitled to a bonus of up to 100 per cent of that if all his targets are achieved.

He could also pick up a longterm incentive award of up to 300 per cent of salary based on a mix of financial and non-financial measures over three years.

Wood Group secures ‘sizeable’ North Sea contract extension

Aberdeen-based engineering giant Wood Group has secured a “sizeable” new North Sea contract with EnQuest to provide services three of its offshore assets for up to five years.

The contract, secured by Wood Group PSN (WGPSN), is on new terms, and reflects EnQuest’s “ongoing focus on reducing costs and improving the efficiency of its North Sea offshore operations”.

WGPSN was originally awarded the engineering, design, construction, procurement and commissioning services contract for EnQuest’s Thistle, Heather and Northern Producer offshore assets in 2009.

The value of the latest contract has not been disclosed.

Glasgow marketing company Pursuit Marketing, which specialises in generating sales leads for businesses is to take on 35 new staff to meet growing demand.

The email marketing, data cleansing and telemarketing firm’s expansion comes as it is on track to boost turnover by 130 per cent in its current financial year.

Pursuit, whose clients include Microsoft Partners, Sage and Advanced Business Solutions, expects to turn over £2.3 million in the year to June, with growth coming from new and existing clients.

Its progress has given owners Patrick Byrne and Robert Copeland the confidence to increase staff from 50 to 85, and switch to bigger premises in Finnieston. The office move took place this week.

HSBC has appointed headhunters to find new non-executive directors in an effort to freshen up its board.

Europe’s biggest bank has previously said its next chairman will be an external candidate, reports said one of the new non-executives was likely to be a replacement for chairman Douglas Flint.

Shareholders and industry sources have previously said they expected Flint to step down in the next 12-24 months.

The bank has appointed headhunters MWM Consulting to search for new non-executive directors, the source said.