Professional and DIY decorating tools company Hamilton Acorn has appointed a new managing director - Steve Edwards, who will take over from John Grayson.
Mr Grayson has moved on to lead a listed European DIY and housewares branded goods manufacturer. Mr Edwards has a distinguished career in hardware, DIY and builders merchant businesses including sales and marketing roles at Spur Shelving and, more recently, Siro.

"This comes at a very exciting time in Hamilton Acorn's development," said Mr Edwards.

"In the past few years, some major improvement projects have been successfully implemented within the company and these have laid the foundation for profitable growth. Changes have taken place in difficult economic times and enormous credit is due to those who have ensured we now have a solid foundation to build on.

"My appointment also comes hard on the heels of recent news of Orkla Brands Nordic entering into an agreement, subject to the approval of the Norwegian competition authorities, to buy Hamilton's parent company Jordan, Europe's third largest manufacturer of painting tools. I am therefore in a great position to take the company and its brands to the next level and look forward to developing the strategic plan for that with the new owners.

"In the first place, we have a number of product development and branding projects in all sectors of our market - professional, DIY and builders merchant - to launch over the next six to nine months, giving us the ability to grow the Hamilton brand significantly. So this is a great opportunity to take the company forward."