Source: CRH Plc, Dublin
CRH Chief Financial Officer Myles Lee will succeed Liam O'Mahony, who, as previously announced, plans to retire as chief executive at year's end. A civil engineer and accountant, Lee is a 26-year company veteran who was appointed general manager of Finance in 1988 and Finance director and board member in 2003.

During the executive tenure of Lee and O'Mahony, CRH has emerged as a construction materials and products powerhouse in Europe and North America, with annual sales exceeding $20 billion. As part of the chief executive transition plan, CRH has appointed Albert Manifold, currently managing director Europe Materials, as group chief operating officer designate. He is scheduled to assume the role and join the CRH board in January 2009. An accountant with an MBA, he has held senior positions, including group development director, since 1998. Management notes that his new position “reflects a natural evolution of the CRH organizational structure, given the continuing growth and development of the Group in the U.S., Western Europe and the emerging markets of Central/Eastern Europe and Asia.”