Stalwart Barrus MD to retire next year

1 July 2022

The Board of EP Barrus has announced that managing director Robert Muir will retire from his position in December 2023 after 32 years with the company, including eleven as MD.

He joined Barrus in 1990 from Ransomes Consumer Ltd, where he was managing director. He has contributed enormously to the growth and success of Barrus during his tenure, first as finance director and then as sales director before becoming managing director. 

Robert was instrumental in taking Barrus into the garden tools market, first with Wolf-Garten, then Wilkinson Sword and Town & Country. More recently he has been leading the drive on electrification within the markets that the company operates in, not least with the design and building of a hydrogen fuel cell powered inland waterways vessel.

The Odgers Berndtson recruitment consultancy has been appointed to identify his successor.

Robert Glen, Owner of Barrus, said: “It is hard to know where to start to thank Robert for his dedication to Barrus and his friendship to me and my family. There have been some interesting times over the last 32 years and Robert’s unwavering commitment has served us very well.”

Tara Glen, Chairman of the company added: “I have known and worked with Robert for over three decades. He is a tremendous leader and, on a personal level, adviser, so I am thrilled that we will retain his wise counsel and expertise as he has agreed to remain on the board of the company as a non-executive director.”

Barrus is also well-known for its distributorship of Yanmar and John Deere industrial engines, and it also develops custom-built products for specific end users or market requirements, such as the MoD, RNLI, HM Coastguard and original equipment manufacturers.