Geoffrey Drabble (born December 1959) is a British businessman, and was the CEO of

Ashtead Group Ashtead Group plc is a British industrial equipment rental company based in London, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange as a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. History Ashtead was founded in 1947, in the village of Ashtead, Surr ...

, an industrial equipment rental company and FTSE 100 Index constituent, from January 2007 to May 2019.

Early life

He has a bachelor's degree in economics and accountancy from Aberystwyth University.

Career

Drabble started his career with

Black & Decker Black+Decker Inc. is an American manufacturer of power tools, accessories, hardware, home improvement products, home appliances and fastening systems headquartered in Towson, Maryland, north of Baltimore, Maryland, USA, where the company was o ...

, then

Laird Laird () is the owner of a large, long-established Scottish estate. In the traditional Scottish order of precedence, a laird ranked below a baron and above a gentleman. This rank was held only by those lairds holding official recognition in ...

, before joining Ashtead. Drabble has seen Ashtead's share price rise from £1.50 to £15.50 over his nearly 11 years as CEO. In 2018, he was named "CEO of the Year" at the PLC Awards. In November 2018, it was announced that Drabble would retire as CEO of Ashtead Group on 1 May 2019, and would be succeeded by

Brendan Horgan Brendan Horgan is an American businessman, and the CEO of Ashtead Group, an industrial equipment rental company and FTSE 100 Index constituent, since May 2019. In 1996, Horgan joined Sunbelt Rentals, Ashtead's North American business, rising to ...

, the Group COO and chief executive of

Sunbelt Rentals Ashtead Group plc is a British industrial equipment rental company based in London, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange as a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. History Ashtead was founded in 1947, in the village of Ashtead, Sur ...

, Ashtead's North American business.

Personal life

He met his future wife while at university.

References

1959 births Living people Alumni of Aberystwyth University British chief executives {{UK-business-bio-stub