UK Coal chief executive Gerry Spindler is stepping down from the group's board and will leave it completely by the end of the year. He is to be replaced by property director Jon Lloyd on September 1~(st). For obvious reasons, Coal UK's initial reaction to the news was along the lines of, 'well that's it then, for the mining side of the business'. However, the company has been very keen to emphasise the strength of commitment that UKC retains for mining. Spindler's reign began in October 2004, at a time when UKC's mining performance was plumbing new depths, with Selby about to breathe its last. With the share price slipping, Spindler's predecessor Gordon McPhie found himself out of a job, carrying the can for under-investment in the company's mines and the failure of an efficiency raising programme. Spindler was brought in, and paraded to the City, as a man who knew mining and could set that side of the business straight. He agreed to join on a three year deal and set himself the task of stopping the cashflow haemorrhage and of raising the share price. He never completely got on top of the mining tasks, with UKC's eggs all in an at times worryingly fragile looking Daw Mill basket, but look at that share price.
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