Donald Greenhalgh, who has been at the helm at Allen plc as chairman since 1973, has taken up his first non-executive role in the e-business sector with Auctions2business.

Auctions2business, which has its head office in Manchester, was set up in August 2000 with £1million backing from specialist venture capital incubator Axiomlab plc. Led by chief executive John Eddleston, it aims to become the leading global online industrial auctions and sales site offering electronic trading and live web casts.

Donald Greenhalgh, aged 68, who has decades of experience in management in the construction industry, believes that the secret to success in the e-commerce sector is no different from traditional business sectors.

"Many business start-ups in the dot.com sector appeared to think that success was simply a question of turnover but cash burn soon became a major factor. After the initial wave of enthusiasm for dot.coms reality has begun to dawn and common sense is beginning to return.

"With my many years of experience, I am looking forward to helping Auctions2business achieve a profitable future in the global online industrial auction market" he said.

Formerly chairman of Ultraframe, Donald Greenhalgh also holds non-executive positions with Ainscough Cranes and MGF (Trench Construction).

To register your interest with Auctions2Business go to: www.auctions2business.com