Fairstone Group has announced that its founder is stepping down from the CEO role after almost 18 years at the helm.
Lee Hartley will move to the role of deputy chair on October 1 – and the group says a successor for the chief executive role has also been found after an extensive search process.
The move comes after Fairstone recently announced two significant milestones - £20bn in assets under management and completing its 100th deal within the sector.
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Mr Hartley said: “I’m immensely proud to have built Fairstone from an initial concept through to our position today. It’s easy to talk about numbers, and obviously we’re a business of real scale and significance, but it’s the fact that we’re doing things differently that really puts the shine on the story.
“We have a unique model, we stay true to our values, and we firmly believe that independence and whole of market choice is not an impediment to growth or profitability.
“I’m really looking forward to helping guide the business from a new seat. We’ve massively improved our senior management team and organisational design over the last 18 months, and this is one of the principal reasons why I’m now able to make this decision.
“We’re in superb shape and we know exactly where we are heading, this feels like the right time and the right decision.”
The new CEO for the group, who has managed both national and international operations in previous positions, is set to be announced in September and will take up the position later in the year.
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David Hickey, independent chairman at Fairstone, added: “I’m delighted that Lee will be remaining with the business and will continue to play an active role on the board. It’s inevitable that a founder-led business will have to deal with this kind of transition at some stage, and I’m extremely pleased that we’re able to do this in a manner which only strengthens the company.
“Fairstone is quite a unique organisation, we have a fantastic culture and a very distinct strategy – Lee has been the chief architect in both respects, and these are the foundations of the great business that Fairstone has become.”