Martin Balaam has stepped down as the chief executive of VAR Redstone “by mutual consent”.

The voice and data specialist gave no reason for Balaam’s departure but said in a stock exchange announcement that it is “transitioning to the next phase of its development”.

Alan Coppin, chairman and non-executive director, will now take on executive chairman duties.

London-listed Redstone is set to announce its full-year results in June but for its fiscal first half to 30 September the reseller swung to a pre-tax loss of £1.8m on revenue up 10 per cent to £106m.

Coppin will be supported by a divisional management team that will oversee each of the company’s divisions.

Balaam, who will leave Redstone’s board with immediate effect, said: “I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Redstone during its acquisition phase and I am delighted that Alan has been appointed as executive chairman. He has been instrumental in the development of Redstone and his extensive experience will be of particular benefit in its next phase of development."

Coppin said: “On behalf of the board of Redstone and me personally, I would like to thank Martin for his enthusiasm, energy and contribution to the development of Redstone over the years. We wish him well in his future activities."

Martin St Quinton, founder of rival VAR Azzurri, said Balaam was a well respected figure in the channel.

"I was disappointed to hear that Martin is moving on," he said. "I think he is one of the good guys in the industry and he did a good job at Redstone, but I think the plans that had started to come to fruition prior to the credit crunch became more difficult over the last year. I hope he does stay in the industry because it would be a shame to lose a talent like Martin."