Neil Smith to be replaced by John Paton as Gateley finance chief

(Sharecast News) - Gateley announced on Wednesday that long-serving chief financial officer Neil Smith would step down at the end of April next year, with former Alpha FMC finance chief John Paton appointed as his successor following a planned handover period.

Smith, who had been with Gateley for 17 years and CFO since its 2015 float, would leave his roles as CFO and executive director on 30 April but remain with the group to work on projects supporting its growth strategy.

Paton would join as an executive director on 5 January and assume the CFO role on 1 May.

Gateley said Paton would bring extensive experience in finance, mergers and acquisitions, corporate strategy, capital markets and professional services growth, having served as CFO of Alpha FMC from 2018 to 2025 and previously spending 11 years at HSBC in roles including corporate capital origination and mid-market M&A advisory.

He is a qualified accountant who began his career at KPMG.

"On behalf of the board, I would like to thank Neil Smith for his exceptional service to Gateley," said chief executive Rod Waldie.

"The board is grateful to Neil for his part in Gateley's significant growth and transformation into the broad professional services group that we continue to build.

"I am very pleased to welcome John to Gateley; he has extensive experience as a CFO and a proven track record delivering growth in professional services businesses."

Chair Edward Knapp said Paton would "bring significant experience and expertise in high growth professional services businesses to help support Gateley in the next phase of its development," while Smith said he felt "privileged and immensely proud" of his career at Gateley and would focus on ensuring an orderly transition.

At 1237 BST, shares in Gateley Holdings were down 1.15% at 125.04p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.