Carlisle Airport owner Stobart Group's chief executive Andrew Tinkler has announced he will stand down from his role.

He will hand over to the deputy chief executive Warwick Brady after the business' AGM next month.

The firm will also create a new division, Stobart Capital, which Mr Tinkler will be in charge of.

This shock decision was made in announcements to the stock market this morning.

Mr Tinkler has been in charge of Stobart Group since 2007, when it first listed on the stock exchange.

Initially he helped to transform the fortunes of the Eddie Stobart logistics business, which the group owned at the time, and then helped develop its current strategy, which includes energy, aviation and rail divisions.

He will remain on the board as an executive and will also charge of Stobart Capital, which has been described as a "value creation unit". It will operate independently and present new investment opportunities to a sub-committee of the company's board.

Group chairman Iain Ferguson said: "The establishment of Stobart Capital will allow us to fully harness our entrepreneurial skills and identify new value creating opportunities.

"I would like to thank Andrew for his unique and tireless contribution to the group over the past 10 years, and I look forward to working with Andrew and Warwick in their new roles."

For the year to February 28, the group made a pre-tax loss of £8.025m; for the same period in 2016 it made a pre-tax profit of £10.95m.

Underlying profit though - which represents profits before tax and before a variety of other one-off business costs - was at £27.35m, an increase of almost 50 per cent on the £18.4m made last year.

Revenue was at £129.4m, up 2.1 per cent from £126.7m in 2016.

Mr Tinkler said: "This year we have delivered improved underlying profitability across the group and put in place the foundations, management and organisational structure to achieve our objectives.


Warwick Brady "We are on track to deliver our strategy by 2018 and drive shareholder value through our three growth operating divisions, whilst generating cash through the exit of our infrastructure and investment portfolios at the right time, allowing increasing returns to shareholders."

In his statement on the results Mr Tinkler said the group was in a good position to deliver value to its shareholders and that he would continue to spend half of his time working with the group.

He added: "The remainder of my time will be spent working with Richard Butcher (executive director of Stobart infrastructure, who is also stepping down) to deliver value in our infrastructure and investments divisions and, in particular in launching and developing Stobart Capital, bringing together the group's investment activities under a new value creation unit.

"This will be a platform, working alongside external professionals and exploiting my entrepreneurial skills and experience, to bring investment opportunities to the group that complement the strategy, and have the potential to create further returns for shareholders."

Warwick Brady joined the company in January and until September last year was chief operating officer of easyJet.

He said: "Over the last six months I have very much enjoyed working with the board and Andrew but moreover believe there is a lot of unlocked value and growth potential across our core divisions that has yet to be realised.

"Whilst the foundations have been laid in each division, with investment and a clear strategic direction, the business can continue to grow. The group has all the resources available to support accelerated growth and then over time the operating businesses will underpin the value creation for our shareholders."