US: The board of directors of Stepan Company has unanimously appointed F Quinn Stepan, Jr, the company's president and CEO and a director, to succeed F Quinn Stepan as chairman. Stepan, Jr will assume the role upon his father’s retirement on 31 December 2016. Stepan, Sr has served as chairman since 1984, and previously served as CEO of the company from November 1984 to December 2005. The company also announced that Edward J Wehmer will serve as lead independent director, effective upon Stepan Sr's retirement.

Poland: Paroc Group has upgraded its mineral wool plant in Trzemeszno to increase its production capacity with an investment of over Euro13m. “Up till now, some of the Paroc’s technical insulation solutions had been produced only in Finland,” said Joakim Westerlund, Chief Operating Officer at Paroc. “Shipping from Poland, combined with the fact that more products can now be transported on one truck thanks to new technology, not only will save time and resources of our customers, but also fits in our sustainability and energy efficiency policy.”

The investment marks a continuation of Paroc’s long-term development strategy in its Baltic and Central Europe area. Since 1998, when the Polish Paroc production plant was set-up, the company has invested over Euro140m in the Trzemeszno plant.

US: Installed Building Products has purchased East Coast Insulators, a provider of insulation services to residential and commercial customers in the Virginia, West Virginia, Washington DC and Maryland markets through two Virginia locations. "With US$20m of annual revenues, East Coast Insulators has a large presence within strong and growing markets, and this acquisition will help expand our presence in the mid-Atlantic region," said Jeff Edwards, chairman and chief executive officer of Installed Building Products.

UK: Doug Robertson will retire as Group Financial Director and from the board of SIG in the first quarter of 2017. He will be succeeded by Nick Maddock, currently Chief Financial Officer at McCarthy & Stone. Precise dates will be announced once determined. Robertson has worked at SIG since 2011.