Hastings Group Holdings has revealed that chair Mike Fairey is retiring and will leave the British insurer’s board in May. Taking over then as non-executive chairman is chief executive Gary Hoffman (pictured).
“It has been a pleasure to serve as chairman of the company and to oversee its early years as a publicly listed company,” commented Fairey, who joined the business in 2015. “I feel the time is now right for me to step down and I am confident the proposed changes to the board will leave the company in very safe hands to enable its continued success for the benefit of all stakeholders.”
Those changes include senior independent director Tom Colraine replacing Fairey as chairman of the nomination committee starting March. At the same time Colraine will keep his audit committee chairmanship.
Hastings also announced the promotion of Toby van der Meer to the role of CEO effective March 01. He is appointed to the board on the same date, moving on from his position as managing director of Hastings Insurance Services Limited, the firm’s UK trading subsidiary.
“Toby van der Meer emerged as the leading candidate for succession to the role of chief executive, following a rigorous profiling and search process including full evaluation of potential internal and external candidates using specialist consultants,” explained Hastings in its announcement. “He has played a pivotal role in the significant growth and development of the Group’s retail business over the past six years and is a well-respected leader within the organisation.”
In the period between his appointment and Hoffman’s appointment as chairman, the latter will remain on the board as an executive director.
“It has been an incredible journey so far and I am honoured to be asked to be CEO of the Hastings Group,” said van der Meer. “I am proud of what the team has achieved so far and feel very confident about our trajectory and the continued growth and diversification opportunities ahead of us.”
According to Hastings, succession planning has been high on the board’s agenda as it seeks sustained growth and development.
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