PRIME LIGHT

Company background

Prime Light Group is a leading distributor of lighting and control components. With 30 years experience, over 50,000 product lines and an established network of suppliers, the business uses its expertise and connections to deliver a solutions-focused approach to the international lighting industry.

In 2018, Bay Tree Private Equity supported a management led buyout to enable the founder, Michael Cole, to step away. At the time of the deal Duncan Wilkes was appointed Chair, and in 2023 a strong CFO was also recruited.

The brief

To lead Prime Light through its next phase of growth, the business sought an experienced Executive Chair – a clear business leader with a track record of growing businesses through B2B engagement. Key candidate criteria included a background in international, product-based businesses selling to global multi-nationals including experience from an SME or business unit of a larger corporate. Additionally important was direct experience of building private equity-oriented shareholder value as well as a solid understanding of how to manage a multi-layer, multi-dimensional sales approach to target companies, specifiers and lead contractors.

The process

Having successfully worked with Bay Tree in the appointment of Duncan Wilkes and on several other portfolio projects, Directorbank’s Simon Thomas was tasked with the search. Simon identified a pool of 90+ candidates, 20 of whom were approached for screening, interview and assessment. Five exceptional individuals were submitted for client interview with Catherine Connolly successfully appointed to the position.

The result

With over 25 years of leadership experience, Catherine has a stellar track record of driving growth, innovation and operational excellence across leading global organisations.

Motivated and dynamic, she brings broad industry and private equity experience and is adept at leading and developing teams in fast-paced multi-national environments, working across operations and sites to drive top line sales growth, productivity and EBITDA improvement.

Most recently Catherine was CEO of ML Accessories, part of global lighting business SLV Lighting Group. Her earlier roles include senior leadership and sales positions at Schneider Electric and Honeywell.