6th May 2016 10:15
LONDON (Alliance News) - CPPGroup PLC, the AIM-listed assistance business, on Friday named Jason Walsh as its new chief executive officer, after its board was ousted at a shareholder vote on Thursday.
Walsh, who will begin as CEO on May 16, was employed by CPP between 2002 and 2014. He was the managing director of CPP's UK insurance business in his last role with the company.
More recently, since leaving CPP in July 2014, Jason has been working for audit firm EY within its financial services advisory practice in a role for one of its major UK banking clients, the company said.
"CPP has been through a difficult period and we must now focus on rebuilding the business - retaining what is great about the company as well as branching out and expanding into new areas. Jason's knowledge of the business and the sector in which it operates, along with his strong regulatory expertise, will allow the group to do this in a way which is of benefit to our customers, our colleagues and to the creation of long term sustainable value," Richard Lapthorne, the new chairman of CPP, said in a statement.
The proposals to remove former Chief Executive Stephen Callaghan, Chairman Roger Canham, and Non-Executive Directors Shaun Astley-Stone and Abhai Rajguru were first put forward by Schroders, which owns just over 10% of CPP, and were backed by founder Hamish Ogston, who controls a 42% stake in the company.
Lapthorne, the chairman of Cable & Wireless Communications PLC, was named to the board on Thursday. Mark Hamlin, the joint deputy chairman at Cable & Wireless, also joined, along with former Cable & Wireless board member Nicholas Cooper.
Walsh said that CPP needs need to get new products to market, develop existing business partner relationships and create new ones, build a competitive advantage in its digital offering, as well as work with its regulators, the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority, to restore its UK trading permissions.
The new CEO said CPP is now on a "much firmer financial footing" after its past troubles. The company's woes go back to 2012 when it was fined GBP10.5 million by UK regulators for "widespread mis-selling" of credit card protection insurance products.
Shares in CPP were down 2.5% at 8.90 pence on Friday morning.
By Samuel Agini; [email protected]; @samuelagini
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