Wardrop leaves Succession in management shakeup

Alan Wardrop is stepping down from his position as finance director at Succession Advisory Services as part of a management shakeup at the consolidation vehicle, coinciding with the move to a new head office.

The company is creating a "state-of-the-art" service centre and head office at the Tamar Science Park in Plymouth, with 26 employees relocating there this month.

Wardrop, who had been based out of Mayfair, has left the company as he could not make the move for family reasons.

Richard Rhodes, currently chief operating officer of majority shareholder Spearpoint and previously CFO of Merill Lynch, is joining as commercial director, responsible for overviewing the financial functions of the business, as well as the rolling programme of acquisitions in Succession's membership.

Meanwhile, Ian Shipway has become chairman of the Investment Committee, Succession's own integrated investment proposition, and Elizabeth Johnson has been appointed national operations director.

Tim Parsons is moving to the position of national relationship director, responsible for the ongoing development of the membership across the country, while John Kilburn-Toppin, Paul Morrish and Andrew Smith are remaining in their positions of national membership director, corporate director and chief operating officer respectively.

Simon Chamberlain, CEO of Succession, said: "With our unique proposition being serviced from a dedicated central office, providing 24 hour support for our partners, we anticipate an acceleration of funds being moved onto the platform, and an escalation in client fees and recurring income across our total membership.

"We have a strong pipeline of new businesses in a landing pattern for the rest of 2011, and have already started to acquire further stakes in our partner firms as they demonstrate their integration to the Succession model."