Mr McAdam, who joined the UK firm as chief financial officer earlier this year, succeeds Martin Kelly, who will remain with the business in a non-executive capacity to support the transition.

Mr McAdam is a qualified Chartered Accountant (CA), having trained while working at EY until 2017. He was formerly director at Glasgow-headquartered Craig Corporate where he regularly led due diligence for complex multi-million value deals, as well as buy-side advisory and capital raising services. His background in finance, investment and commercial leadership provides a strong platform for guiding Embrace’s continued expansion.

Succeeding Mr Kelly as CEO, Mr McAdam will continue to be supported by chairman Richard Whiting who has over three decades worth of experience in leading and advising UK businesses on growth and transformational change with significant leadership experience gained across a range of sectors including distribution, food, building products, energy and agriculture.

The board is also bolstered by the appointment of Simon Longfield as a new non-executive director, who brings deep leadership experience from the industrial and construction sectors.

Embrace has acquired two heritage UK steel brands since its inception; Hambleton Steel (acquired in 2022) and Shufflebottom (acquired in April 2024) with plans to continue its growth trajectory via making operational improvements throughout its existing group and by identifying strategic M&A opportunities.

Mr McAdam said: “It’s a massive honour to become CEO of such an ambitious and entrepreneurial business.

“While it’s clearly a challenging time for the UK steel and wider construction sector, Embrace has a strong platform, respected heritage brands and an outstanding team. I’m incredibly optimistic about the prospect of driving growth at Embrace in the years to come. 

“I would like to thank Martin for all his hard work behind the scenes and look forward to continue working with him and the board to capitalise on the strong foundations built to date.”

Mr Whiting said: “Ross’s appointment marks an exciting new chapter for Embrace. He brings a clear focus on performance, people and growth, and has already demonstrated the leadership qualities needed to guide the business forward.

“With Simon joining the board and Martin continuing to support the group, we have a capable experienced Board to deliver our long-term objectives.”