AA loses senior management team

Four of the AA’s senior management team have left the company and been replaced by Saga employees following the £6.15bn merger.

A spokesman for Saga said AA’s financial director Paul Wolf, human resources director Martin Sawkins, information systems director Trevor Didcock and head of insurance Kevin Sinclair have all left the company. It is not clear whether they were pushed out or chose to walk in the face of new ownership.

So far Saga’s Stuart Howard has been named group finance director, Janet Thompson will take over as HR director and Andrew Strong will head up AA’s newly merged insurance and roadside assistance unit.

In June, the AA's chief executive Tim Parker said he would leave once the deal was completed.

The change in management has fuelled speculation that the merger will see Saga play the more dominate role in the new company.

The GMB, AA’s former union, have expressed fears that Saga will use the AA’s insurance panel to merely build up its own business within the over 50s motor market.

A Saga spokesman has said restructuring of the AA panel will take place but maintains the two brands will remain autonomous.

The spokesman said: “Andrew Goodsell will be running the company and obviously he will have looked to see who the best people for the jobs are and which management team he wants to bring in.”

The AADU, which represents members of the AA, said the overhaul of the senior management team was expected.

AADU’s national chairman Ian Allen said: “Some will have decided the AA is not the place for them with the new owners and some will have been told it’s not the place for them. It was no surprise for the folks on the AADU because we’ve seen it before. Anytime a company comes in and buys another company they seem to do the same thing.”

Allen said AA employees who had worked for the replaced directors have expressed concerns over job security within the merged company.