Gallagher names Kahl Betham CEO

Feb. 16, 2021
Sir William Gallagher moves to ambassadorial role after 59 years

Gallagher today announced that Kahl Betham has been appointed Chief Executive Officer for the Gallagher Group, a global leader in the design and manufacture of security, animal management, and fuel systems solutions. After almost six transformative decades with the company, Sir William Gallagher will shift to the role of President of Gallagher Holdings Limited, with an ambassadorial focus.

In November 2018, the company announced a succession planning process was underway when Sir William outlined his intention to begin an orderly leadership transition, enabling him to eventually move away from his day-to-day responsibilities. To prepare for this shift, then Deputy CEO & Executive Director Steve Tucker moved to Executive Chair of the Board, and then Global General Manager for Security, Kahl Betham, stepped up to Steve’s executive management and Board position.

In his newly expanded role, Kahl will bring over two decades of Gallagher experience to lead the company’s efforts, which span the animal management, security, and fuel systems industries. He will continue to oversee the Operations, Research & Development, Information Services, People & Brand, Finance, Risk & Responsibility, and Legal functions.

“Throughout their careers, Sir William and Kahl have given the Gallagher brand so much,” said Steve Tucker, Gallagher’s Executive Chair. “Over the past few years, the Board has looked at how it builds continued strong governance, and Kahl’s leadership is a great fit for the company to ensure the legacy Sir William has built over so long as leader, continues for many years to come.”

Kahl joined the company in 1997 and has held a number of roles, spanning engineering, business analysis, market research, product development as well as senior leadership roles.

“It is the opportunity of a lifetime to lead the number one privately-owned tech exporter in New Zealand,” said Kahl. “I am looking forward to continuing this journey, and to further building on everything we stand for across our people, customers, and business partners.”

Gallagher today operates from 10 key office locations around the world and has over 1,000 employees who are dedicated to delivering solutions that add real value for customers.

“When my father, Bill Gallagher Senior, started the company in 1938, never did I imagine that it would grow to quite the size and scale it has,” said Sir William. “I’m immensely proud to look back on what has been an extremely rewarding career thanks to so many people, both in New Zealand and right around the world. It’s now time for me to start moving away from the more day-to-day operations of the company, but I’m very much looking forward to remaining an active part of Gallagher in my new ambassadorial role and being able to travel again when borders reopen.”

The changes are effective immediately.

Sponsored Recommendations

Knightscope receives two more K5 expansion contracts for casinos

These two new ASRs bring the total robots under contract to 5, which include deployments in Las Vegas, Nevada; Council Bluffs, Iowa; and Aurora, Illinois.

ISACA adds new credentialing pathway as part of its new CMMI model upgrade

Successfully completing this course also opens the gateway to advanced CMMI training, equipping professionals with the prerequisites required for more specialized courses in the...

Barrier1 features expanded portfolio of crash rated, storefront safety bollards at NACS 2023

On display and available for demonstration at Barrier1 booth# B5205 is the Tomcat S10 Storefront Bollard, a crash-rated bollard designed to stop a 5,000lb vehicle traveling at...

Ransomware attack disrupts Johnson Control’s internal IT infrastructure, apps

JCI said after detecting the issue it began probing the incident with help from external cybersecurity experts, adding the company is “also coordinating with its insurers.”