FORTH Ports chief executive Charles Hammond has been appointed chairman of retail marketing company SpaceandPeople.

The 53-year-old Mr Hammond takes up the position immediately and replaces David Henderson-Williams who stood down on September 11.

It is understood Mr Hammond will chair his first board meeting at the Glasgow company in November.

He said: "I am delighted to join SpaceandPeople as chairman and look forward to working with the executive team in building value for shareholders."

Mr Hammond worked as a lawyer before joining Forth Ports as company secretary in 1989 and was appointed chief executive a decade later. He remained in charge even after Forth Ports, which operates port facilities at Grangemouth, Leith and Dundee, was purchased by infrastructure investor Arcus for £746 million and taken off the stock exchange in 2011.

Matthew Bending, chief executive of SpaceandPeople, acknowledged the difficulties the AIM-listed business has experienced in 2014 which has resulted in it twice cutting profit forecasts.

He said: "We are delighted that Charles has agreed to join the board. This has been a testing year for us and his desire to improve us individually and collectively will add dynamism to the board and bring tremendous added value to SpaceandPeople's stakeholders."

Just last month Spaceandpeople, which markets advertising and promotional space in high footfall locations such as shopping malls, city parks and transport hubs, hired STV finance director George Watt as a non-executive.