GBG chair Richard Longdon announces retirement before interim results

GB Group, the London-listed identity and location technology business, said on 23 October that Richard Longdon will retire as chair and as a non-executive director with effect from 30 November 2026, for personal reasons.

The announcement comes three days after GBG’s pre-close update for the first half, in which it said it expected revenue of £139.5m, up 1.4% at constant currency. Its core Location and Identity segments, about 95% of revenue, grew 4.5%. Adjusted operating profit is expected at £27.0m, down from £29.5m a year earlier, which GBG put down to extra investment in its GBG Go platform. Separately, it recorded about £4.5m of exceptional costs in the half on simplification and cost-efficiency work.

The same update flagged a non-cash goodwill impairment for the Americas Identity business, after attrition in a small number of material direct customers there. GBG said it is still assessing strategic options for Global Fraud Solutions, which makes up about 5% of revenue and declined more than expected. It expects revenue growth of 1–3% for the current financial year, in line with what it called “recently revised” market expectations.

GBG has a market value of about £358m, according to BusinessCloud. Liz Catchpole, the senior independent director, said in the announcement that the board was grateful for Longdon’s commitment to an orderly transition.