Towergate moves to reassure staff after resignation of chief executive

Mark Hodges decided 'the time was right to hand over the baton'

THE executive chairman of insurance industry consolidator Towergate has moved to reassure staff after the resignation of chief executive Mark Hodges.

Alastair Lyons told staff in a letter that the company had a market leading business model and supportive shareholders, although he acknowledged that there “will inevitably be bumps in the road”.

Earlier this week, ratings agency Fitch said Mr Hodges’ resignation had heightened uncertainty about the group’s ability to “extract the planned operational efficiencies”.

Yesterday, a Towergate spokesman confirmed that the company made a pre-tax loss of £20m in the first half of this year, while the company’s debt sits at around £930m.

The spokesman added: “The financial performance needs to be set within the context of a significant transformation programme and a challenging insurance market environment.”

In his letter to staff, Mr Lyons said that, after three years, as CEO, Mr Hodges had decided that “now is the right time to hand over the baton”.

Towergate, a chartered insurance intermediary, has more than 5,500 employees in the UK, including 350 in Yorkshire.

Mr Hodges, a former high-flying executive at Aviva, joined in 2011.