Phoenix CEO Courtley resigns

Services firm claims departure is not linked to costly investigations into accounting irregularities

Phoenix IT Group chief executive Dave Courtley is leaving the firm after little more than a year, but the services heavyweight insists his departure is unrelated to ongoing investigations into alleged accounting irregularities.

Former EDS and Fujitsu bigwig Courtley replaced long-serving Phoenix boss Nick Robinson upon his retirement in July last year. A statement issued to the markets revealed he "has today resigned to pursue other business interests".

The resulting reshuffle will see non-executive chairman Peter Bertram assume an executive chairmanship, while CFO Jane Aikman will also take on the role of chief operating officer. David Garman has been appointed senior independent director.

"The company confirms that this resignation is not related to the ongoing accounting investigation as previously announced, which is of as much concern to David as it is to the remainder of the board," added the statement.

Phoenix also announced today that Deloitte has "resigned as auditor of the company". Rival PwC will take over auditing responsibilities as of 3 October.

Last month PwC was charged with undertaking the "independent forensic investigations" into the findings of an internal Phoenix review which concluded that "certain control processes... have been repeatedly and deliberately circumvented" by company accountants.

The services player is expecting the farrago to contribute to a £14m decline in net assets this year. Investors' initial response to the revelations was hostile, with a third of the Phoenix's market capitalisation swiftly obliterated.