Utley will remain ‘keen supporter’ of Hastings despite board exit

Former Hastings chairman Utley has said he will remain a “keen supporter” of the company despite not having a position on the new group board.

He also said he will not make a big divestment of his shareholding when the company floats on the London Stock Exchange in October.

Hastings announced plans for its long-awaited initial public offering this morning, and also revealed a new group board. The new board includes two representatives from the insurance and broking group’s founding shareholders: Former Hastings Direct chief executive Ed Fitzmaurice and Richard Brewster, who was part of the company’s 2009 management buyout (MBO) from Australian insurer IAG.

Utley became non-executive chairman of Hastings following the 2009 MBO. He is currently listed as a director of Hastings Insurance Group and non-executive director of the group’s broking division, Hastings Insurance Services.

Utley told Insurance Times: “I’m still a very keen supporter of the company and I will continue to be that.”

He also said he will not be selling a large part of his Hastings shareholding. In the IPO, Hastings’s exiting shareholders, including majority shareholder Goldman Sachs, will collectively sell at least 25% of their shares.

Utley said: “We’ll all reduce [our holdings] a little bit, but I have got no plans to divest in any big way at all.”

He added: “I am very excited about the business being in the position that it is and being able to float. It is a six-year drive that we have been going through and I’m very proud now that we are where we are.”

Hastings’s new board