The shareholding of Giles Insurance Brokers has been restructured to enable executive chairman Nick Giles to scale back his involvement in the business.
Chief executive Chris Giles said that from 1 January 2004, Nick Giles would become a non-executive director of the company.
He planned to attend art school in order to pursue a career as a painter.
The company's shareholding was restructured in September, with Nick Giles reducing his interest from 25% to 12.5%. As part of the restructuring Chris Giles increased his share in the company from 25% to 72.5%. The remaining 15% is owned by other members of the Giles family.
Chris Giles said the opportunity for Nick Giles to pursue a career in art was made possible by the recent appointments of sales director Paul Thomson and financial director Derek Gardner.
"He wanted to go his own way 18 months ago and we've now put the management in place so that he can do that," Chris Giles said. "Nick's departure is his desire and it's not a sign of weakness in the company."
Chris Giles added that the company's growth plans were on track with two acquisitions expected to complete in January. He said his holding in the company could be diluted in the future by a merger or management buy-in.
