Andy Bell, the co-founder of LSE-listed investment platform AJ Bell, has taken a £150,000-a-year role as a consultant for the Salford firm, an investor in Northern tech start ups, after stepping down as CEO.
Bell, who also owns the Michelin-starred Moor Hall restaurant in the Midlands, stepped down as CEO as of October 1 and has been succeeded in the role by Michael Summersgill who has been with the company since 2007 and had previously served as its deputy chief executive. Bell had been AJ Bell’s CEO since he co-founded the business in 1995.
In a statement issued to the London Stock Exchange, the company announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, AJ Bell Business Solutions, has entered into a consultancy agreement with Bell’s Blythe Business Services.
Under the terms of the deal, Blythe Business Services will be paid an annual fee of £150,000 for Mr Bell to act as a consultant for no less than 48 days a year.
The update comes after AJ Bell has had talks with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) over the need for “a clear distinction between the executive and non-executive roles.”
The latest clarification follows a statement issued on September 27 in which the company said: “Since announcing Andy’s intention to step down as CEO, we have had constructive discussions with the FCA about the need for a clear distinction between the executive and non-executive roles in a regulated firm and the risk to effective board governance that would arise if a founder CEO with a significant shareholding remained on the board after stepping down as CEO.”
