Finance boss quits Jarvis

JARVIS is parting company with finance director Alistair Rae after he refused to join the head office exodus from London to York

The troubled support services group today said he was stepping down and would leave after 'a suitable handover period'. Rae has played a critical role in its life-saving financial restructuring since taking on the chief number-crunching job last September.

Chief executive Alan Lovell said Rae had simply decided not to relocate with the rest of the executive team. The new York HQ will house more than 200 staff.

Lovell added: 'I want to thank Alistair for the outstanding contribution he has made to the group.'

Rae is likely to bag a pay-off of more than £200,000 as part of a resignation package. His responsibilities will be split between chief financial officer Alasdair Marnoch and deputy finance director Kjell Karlsen.

Jarvis, where former Tory transport minister Stephen Norris is chairman, has struggled to overcome the slump in its fortunes since the Potters Bar rail disaster in May 2002. Seven people died when a train derailed on a stretch of track where Jarvis oversaw maintenance.

The company's sale on Christmas Eve of its stake in London Underground consortium Tube Lines for £146.8m was the biggest of 18 'fire sales' as profits turned into huge losses.

In July 2003 the shares stood at a high of 380p. Today they were down 1¼p to 22½p in early trading.