Regional commercial and housing developer St. Modwen has announced the appointment of Sarwjit Sambhi as its new chief executive officer.

Mr Sambhi was most recently CEO of Centrica Consumer and a member of the board at Centrica plc, the FTSE 250 group and parent company of British Gas.

He held various senior positions during his 19-year tenure at the company, including strategy, finance, major capital projects and renewable energy, before leading its consumer business which included providing energy and home services to the nine million customers of British Gas.

Prior to Centrica, Mr Sambhi was at the technology and management consultancy, Booz Allen & Hamilton.

Danuta Gray, chair of St. Modwen, said: "Sarwjit's breadth of experience and proven leadership capability in a large and complex organisation strongly positions him to deliver St Modwen's stated strategy. The board believes he is a great fit for St. Modwen and well qualified to lead the business and develop the Company for further success, creating value for all our stakeholders.

"I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank Rob Hudson for his strong leadership as interim chief executive over the past six months, during what has been a very challenging period. Despite this, the company has remained resilient operationally and performed strongly."

Sarwjit Sambhi said: "I am proud to be joining St. Modwen. It is a strong business with considerable opportunities to leave a lasting legacy by creating homes, establishing new communities and delivering high-quality industrial and logistics spaces.

"I am looking forward to getting to the know the business, its committed people and the many different stakeholders for whom and with whom the business will thrive."

St. Modwen is a Birmingham based property investment and development business, specialising in the regeneration and remediation of brownfield land and urban environments.

Gloucestershire sites within its portfolio include St. Modwen Park Gloucester and Gateway 12 business parks in Gloucester and Littlecombe housing development in Dursley.