Ventilation manufacturer Nuaire has appointed Kevin Sargeant as its new chairman.

A well known figure within the ventilation industry, Mr Sargeant brings many years of relevant industry and private equity experience to the company. The new appointment coincides with Nuaire’s plans for further growth in the UK and overseas.

A qualified chartered management accountant, Mr Sargeant started his career at Initial Services PLC. He became group managing director in 1986 before leaving to form his own company, Airstream Products, in the late 1980s. His company was later bought by the Vent Axia Group, of which he was group managing director for five years.

He was a VA board member when the company was bought out by Smith Industries PLC and in 2002 he led a management buy-out of Volution from Smiths Industries with Private Equity backing from Montagu. A secondary buy-out followed in 2006 with ABN Amro which he finally exited in February 2012 when the Volution Group was acquired by Towerbrook, a US based Private Equity firm.