Olympics businessman joins board of firm behind Yorkshire’s giant potash mine plan

The directors of Sirius Minerals today announced that Stephen Pycroft has been appointed as a non-executive director with immediate effect.

He is executive chairman of Mace, an international consultancy and construction company. Having joined Mace in 1993 and been appointed a group board director in 1995, he was appointed chief operating officer before taking over as CEO at the end of 2004 and chairman in 2008.

A spokesman for Sirius said: “Stephen has led Mace to achieve phenomenal growth with turnover increasing from £90m in 2001 to £1.1bn in 2012.

“Under Stephen’s leadership Mace has evolved into an international consultancy and construction group, with a reputation for quality and delivery, employing over 4,000 people worldwide. Stephen’s experience includes delivering some of the UK’s most iconic projects, most notably The Shard, the London Eye and the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic village. Mace recently secured the contract for preliminary works for Battersea Power Station.”

Mr Pycroft replaces Michael Mainelli, who steps down from the board after eight years with the company.

Mr Mainelli said: “After so many years watching Sirius grow, it is a delight to see such capable people taking things forward. I remain a great supporter of Sirius and will watch the company’s future success with continuing interest.”

Russell Scrimshaw, the chairman of Sirius, said: “I would like to place on record our very sincere thanks to Michael.”

Sirius Minerals plans to create a potash mine inside the North York Moors national park. It is due to submit a new planning application later this year.