TFI Group has promoted Simon Maier to the role of managing director “to drive forward the company’s ambitious vision for future development, including corporate acquisitions and international expansion”.

Maier joined TFI last December as board director, development, and will begin his new role with immediate effect.

The first changes to TFI’s new era came in April when TFI’s former director and general manager William Jeavons departed after five years. Changes were further highlighted on meetpie.com last week with news that the company is hiring in its Scottish office and planning new offices in Singapore and the US for 2013, despite a slight dip in profits last year. Accounts filed last week for the year ending 31 December 2011 showed turnover up 6.5 per cent to £9.48m, while operating profit fell by £17k, a drop of 5 per cent. Overall profit after tax fell by only 1 per cent to £277k from £280k. 

Maier commented: “I am delighted and honoured to have been given the chance to lead such a good team. We want to grow the things that we do very well and add more to our offer. We will deliver the full events circle for our clients, rather than, for example, event management and logistics alone. We have identified a need for additional services where the client can benefit from our co-ordinated management of quality and delivery. This could well involve acquisitions and also international expansion. This is a hugely exciting time for TFI Group.”

Peter Franks, TFI’s chairman and founder, added: “The next three or four years will see huge growth and changes in the events market, and we too are growing carefully and modestly to match, and stay ahead of, client needs. Such growth needs a good and steady hand on the tiller. [Maier is] enormously creative, both from a corporate point of view and also in how we can shape and build the business.”