FORMER Rover chief executive John Towers has been appointed chief executive of Concentric, a West Midlands engineering group founded in 1920. Towers resigned from Rover with effect from June 1 (Fleet News May 3).

Concentric specialises in automotive parts and valve control mechanisms. It had a turnover of £140 million last year with profits of £11 million and currently has 2,000 employees.

Towers reportedly bought 10,000 shares on the day his appointment was announced and was able to watch the price zip smartly from 180p to 197p. Towers has also taken on non-executive posts with B Elliott - another engineering group - and with the investment advisory board of Hambros European Ventures.