WH Ireland to hire new boss
STOCKBROKER WH Ireland has taken on former Toscafund fund manager Paul Compton as its new chief executive, in an attempt to turn the ailing business around.
Compton joins the firm at a torrid time for the small-cap broking industry. WH Ireland said on Friday that it had fallen into the red over the first half of the year, posting a pre-tax loss of £518,000 for the six months to May compared to a £137,000 profit for the same period in 2009, as the deal pipeline on the junior stock market dried up and investors shied away from riskier growth companies.
Compton, 47, managed the mid-cap fund at Toscafund. He also has a wealth of experience in broking, having spent five years as head of capital markets at Collins Stewart until 2007.
WH Ireland’s current chief executive Richard Ford and finance director Nigel Gurney are due to step down in August and November respectively. The pair have presided over a particularly tricky period for the broker even outside of the market difficulties, including a failed attempt at a tie-up with Blue Oar Securities, now Astaire, and a boardroom uprising which caused the departure of deputy chairman Laurie Beevers and managing director David Youngman.
WH Ireland also said non-executive director Lord Marland had resigned after being appointed as a minister at the Department of Energy and Climate Change.