The appointments follow a period of significant growth at Asteral as their existing contracts continue to grow – over the course of the past year, Asteral’s workforce has grown by 50% over the past 12 months.

 

Mike and Sean bring a wealth of experience managing major operations for BNP Paribas Lease Group and Syscap plc where they delivered substantial, sustained growth. Both Mike and Sean joined the Board of Asteral’s parent company Brook Henderson at the beginning of 2009.

 

Commenting on his appointment, Mike Dix said “I am delighted to be able to lead Asteral into the next phase of its development. Customer satisfaction is at the core of our business and we intend to use that as a springboard for even higher quality service and new business growth.”

 

“Asteral is a key linchpin in the Brook Henderson portfolio, so moving across to lead the development of the organisation was a natural step.”

 

Business development director, Sean Williams said “Ultimately, Asteral is there to enable our clients to deliver better health care. As the National Health Service enters uncertain economic times, this is an ideal time to help Trusts spread the cost of their capital investment while also improving the reliability and quality of their medical equipment.” 

 

1.      Mike Dix, 50, joined Asteral's parent company, Brook Henderson Group, as Group MD on 1 April 09. Prior to that he spent 20 years at BNP Paribas Lease Group, with the last 16 years as CEO. At the end of Mike’s consistently successful stewardship, figures for 2008 showed £1.5bn of assets employed and 350 employees.

2.      Sean Williams, 45, joined Brook Henderson as Business Development Director in 2008, following 17 years as co-founder and CEO of Syscap plc until its sale in 2006. During that period, he built the company to over 100 employees with turnover of £140m. Sean is the founder of Collectsoft, a provider of finance to SAAS (software as a service) suppliers which is majority owned by the Brook Henderson Group.

 

3.      Founder Stephen Hodgson who has 18 years experience working in and with the NHS will remain a key member of the executive team.

 

4.      Asteral is the leading vendor-independent Managed Equipment Service provider to the NHS. It is headquartered in Reading with offices in Leicester and Peterborough.

 

5.      The group has a proven track record of managing medical equipment for the NHS over the last 14 years.

 

6.      Asteral changed its name from AssetCo Healthcare in early 2006.

 

7.      Asteral’s customers include University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, Whittington Hospital NHS Trust, Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust, Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Peterborough Primary Care Trust and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust.