One of CRH's long-standing US executives Doug Black is leaving his role as chief operating officer of its holding company for the region, Oldcastle, and moving to pastures new, according to a statement from the Irish building materials giant. A one-time mangement consultant, Black joined Oldcastle in 1995 as vice-president with responsibility for development. In 2006, on the retirement of the US business's chief executive Joe McCullough, he became president and chief operating officer of its materials division.

Tom Hill succeeded McCullough and played a key role in the €1 billion-plus purchase of asphalt producer, Apac, CRH's biggest deal up to that point. However, Hill left two years later, shortly after it was announced that Myles Lee (above) would succeed Brian O'Mahony as group chief executive as of January 2009.

There was a lot of speculation Hill was annoyed at not getting it. The fact he set Summit Materials, and poached a few of his old colleagues, lent substance to those rumours. However, the group is treating this departure with a good deal less fuss. Managers such as Randy Lake, who has Black's old job at the head of Oldcastle's materials division, building products chief Keith Haas and distribution boss Bob Feury, will now report directly to Towe.

Black is going to pursue other interests, CRH said yesterday. The group's share price was unmoved at the news, in contrast with Hill's departure, when it dipped by more than 9 per cent, but that was in the middle of a very fraught year: 2008.