A new chief executive and chairman are to take the reins of household cleaning products firm McBride.

The company, which has a factory on Park Road, Barrow, has announced that Ludwig de Mot will become chief executive on November 1 – taking over from interim chief executive Chris Smith, who will resume his role as chief financial officer.

Meanwhile, Jeffrey Nodland has been appointed chairman elect with immediate effect after incumbent John Coleman announced he would not be seeking re-election at the company’s AGM on October 22.

Mr de Mot, a Belgian national, joins from ArcelorMittal, where he was president and chief executive of the company’s Canadian mining operations.

Prior to that he spend 12 years in senior executive positions at global minerals and lime producer Lhoist Group, and a further 10 years in senior management roles across Europe with SCA Packaging.

Outgoing chairman, Mr Coleman, said: “His commercial and operational expertise will be highly complementary to our team and he brings a wealth of international experience in manufacturing and selling in many different geographies.”

On his decision to stand down as both chairman and director, Mr Coleman added: “Following the successful recruitment of the new chief executive I believe this is the right time for me to step down and allow a new team to take the company through the next phase of its development.”

He is replaced by Nodland, who joined the McBride board as a non-executive director in June this year.

He has extensive experience in consumer chemicals manufacturing and was most recently president and chief executive of KIK Custom Products, one of North America's largest independent manufacturers of consumer packaged goods.

Mr Nodland’s CV also includes stints at Hexion Speciality Chemicals Inc., McWhorter Technologies, The Valspar Corporation, and Canadian listed developer and manufacturer of bio-based polymers for the wood composite and paper industry EcoSynthetix, where he is currently a non-executive director.

Mr Nodland said he was honoured to take on the role at McBride.

He added: “The company has a rich history of manufacturing excellent products for the European retail market. We are excited about the group's future prospects and I look forward to working with a talented leadership team and our dedicated employees."

The appointments have been announced a month after the company reported its profits had fallen by £8.8 million for the year ending June 30 due to ongoing weakness in the French and North markets, although there was good growth in UK, Spain, Germany and Asia.