Zenith chief resigns

Steve Tidd, chief executive of Zenith Insurance and Guardian Holdings Europe (GHLE), has resigned after just 18 months in the role.

In a statement the company said that Tidd, who will leave the company on 31 July, had successfully guided GHLE through a difficult period of restructuring over the past two years.

Last year, Insurance Times revealed that GHLE had slashed its 2007 profit projections by almost a third 2007 to £3.3m as a result of high loss ratios and disproportionate expenses.

The company closed its office in Kings Hill, Kent, which led to over 60 staff being made redundant. In the Autumn, it merged the Zenith and Link brands under one roof in Haywards Heath, and withdrew from the fleet market.

The statement said that Tidd had positioned the company for a strong future. It said: "Steve now believes that, in completing this work, the time is right to explore fresh avenues in his career.

"He leaves behind the Zenith insurance business in a solid position to capitalise on the continuing improvements in the UK motor market."

The company's parent board credited Tidd for the establishment of a "sound business presence in Europe during a period of considerable adversity."

It said a replacement for Tidd would be named in the near future.