Bateson exits Maitland
Takes top job at contract furniture firm
By Jeff Linville -- Furniture Today, April 16, 2006
High Point — Seamus Bateson has resigned as president and CEO of importer Maitland-Smith to join contract furniture supplier Commercial Furniture Group.
Bateson finishes up at Maitland-Smith on April 21, just before the High Point market. Then he begins the following Monday as president, CEO and board chairman of Commercial Furniture Group, parent of the Shelby Williams, Falcon, Howe, Thonet and Epic brands.
Jeff Young, president and CEO of HDM Furniture Inds., the Furniture Brands International division that oversees the high-end Maitland-Smith, Henredon and Drexel Heritage brands, will be interim president of Maitland-Smith.
Bateson, who previously worked for Procter & Gamble and Rubbermaid, took control of Maitland-Smith in 1999. Young said the company will immediately begin searching for a replacement.
Also, Schon Duke, most recently a senior sales representative at Maitland-Smith, has been named interim vice president of sales, filling the spot that has been vacant since the departure of Bob Froysell last year. Bateson said Duke, whose sales territory has included the Mid-Atlantic states and Alabama and Mississippi, will be the "go-to guy" for key customers at market.
Bateson said the CF Group "recruited me; I was not looking at the time. It is with real mixed feelings that I accepted the offer. I had a wonderful team ... at Maitland-Smith."
He said Oak Tree Capital, majority owner of CF Group, offered him an equity position in the investment firm. Oak Tree Capital and Whippoorwill Associates are the key investors that bought the Falcon Cos. when it was struggling last year.
Falcon went through Chapter 11 restructuring, repaid its debts and moved forward with a new name — Commercial Furniture Group — and leadership.
CF Group laid off about 200 workers last summer and will lay off about 100 more in May because of increased importing.
Steven Gendal of Whippoorwill Associates said of Bateson, "We have found a chief executive officer who has a strong leadership presence, as well as practical, relevant experience within the furniture industry."
As he did when he joined Maitland-Smith, Bateson plans to spend the next three months meeting with customers to determine their needs.
Mickey Holliman, FBI chairman and CEO, said Bateson had done "an outstanding job" at the division.
"We are sad to see him leave, but he has been offered an outstanding opportunity outside the residential furniture industry and we wish him the best as he pursues that opportunity," Holliman said. "Seamus leaves behind a strong foundation that will continue to drive Maitland-Smith on the path to sustained growth."
Young said, "An exciting new Maitland-Smith product lineup already has been developed for the upcoming April market, and we will be conducting business as usual throughout the market.
"The Maitland-Smith leadership team will continue to operate under the current sound business model which is serving our company so well today," Young added.
| Acknowledgements | ||
| Editor in chief Ray Allegrezza contributed to this story. | ||
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