Amigo Loans puts former chief Glen Crawford back at the helm
Amigo Loans’ former chief executive Glen Crawford is to rejoin the business in the same position, following a fraught battle between the board and its multimillionaire founder.
Amigo’s share price skyrocketed more than 25 per cent this morning as shareholders reacted to the news.
Crawford stepped away from the lender in April last year due to medical reasons, but will now take over from Hamish Paton, who had agreed to resign by the end of this month.
Senior independent director Roger Lovering also agreed to replace chair Stephan Wilcke on an interim basis, after both Wilcke and Paton said they would step down at the “first suitable opportunity” in December last year.
“I am delighted that Glen has decided to re-join the company,” said Lovering in a statement to Amigo investors this morning.
“He is a natural choice and brings experience and leadership to the company at this challenging time.”
A boardroom showdown last month saw founder James Benamor sell his entire 61 per cent stake in the company, after a campaign to replace five directors with two of his own nominees was unsuccessful.
Benamor reasserted control of the company following the resignations of Paton and Wilcke last year, with analysts suggesting there had been a fallout over company strategy.
In March he challenged the board to cease lending at Amigo and instead focus on challenging regulators in court.
The Financial Ombudsman Service has launched a probe into the affordability of its loans, while the Financial Conduct Authority is investigating the legitimacy of Amigo’s creditworthiness checks of its customers.
A steep rise in complaints about Amigo’s loans from consumers has forced the lender to set aside at least £35m so far to deal with the initial backlog. It announced last month there would be “material” costs on top of the £35m to handle the remainder.
Crawford first joined Amigo Loans in 2016. He led the process to secure full authorisation from the FCA for the business, and was at the top when it floated on the London Stock Exchange in 2018.
“I am pleased to have this opportunity to step back into the driving seat at Amigo with the support of the board,” said Crawford.
“I remain confident that with Amigo’s excellent team pulling together, we can successfully navigate through the challenges facing the business and get back to focussing on meeting the day to day needs of our present and future customers, who are otherwise excluded from obtaining credit.”