CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Ashtead Group plc named Cliff Miller president and CEO of Sunbelt Rentals. Miller also joined the Ashtead plc board of directors.

Miller, 40, has been one of the company's two executive vice presidents of operations since last August, responsible for about half of Sunbelt's front-line operation. Before that, Miller was vice president responsible for Sunbelt's Northeast region since 1997. Miller joined Sunbelt when it acquired McLean Rentals in 1996, and had been with McLean since 1982.

The company also promoted Brendan Horgan, the second executive vice president of operations to the position of chief operating officer of Sunbelt. Before last August, Horgan was vice president responsible for Sunbelt's Southeastern region.

“Cliff Miller's appointment today as a director of the company and as chief executive of Sunbelt re-establishes Sunbelt's direct participation on the board,” said Cob Stenham, Ashtead's non-executive chairman. “It will also allow George Burnett, the Group's chief executive, who has also been acting CEO in the United States, to return to the U.K. … We look forward to [Miller's] participation in future board discussion.

Charlotte, N.C.-based Sunbelt Rentals is No. 4 on the RER 100.