Moneysupermarket boss stands down for career change

The boss of Moneysupermarket has told his directors that he wants a career change as he announced his intention to step down.

The business, which also told investors it is set to meet expectations for the financial year, said Mark Lewis will step down once a successor has been found.

“Mark Lewis has indicated to the board that he wishes to step down as chief executive and pursue his career in a new direction,” the company said in a statement released to shareholders on Wednesday.

It has already kicked off the formal search process to find a replacement for Mr Lewis.

“The board is grateful for Mark’s contribution to the group,” the company said.

The statement continued: “In the three years since Mark became CEO, the group has helped households save over £6 billion, returned £250 million to shareholders, launched new personalised customer experiences, and developed new capabilities in business-to-business services and the digitisation of mortgage comparison under the reinvent growth strategy.”

Mr Lewis announced his departure a day before he is set to present the company’s preliminary results for the last financial year alongside finance chief Scilla Grimble.

The company said the figures will show that it “met market expectations for 2019”.

No date has yet been set for Mr Lewis’s departure, but the board said he is committed to ensuring the transition to the next boss is smooth.

In October, Moneysupermarket leaned heavily on the energy part of its business as it showed revenue up 4% to £100.9 million in the quarter. It came as Ofgem’s price cap did not, as some had feared, lower levels of energy switching.

But the company’s money division performed less well as banks and other financial services did not offer great deals in the quarter. It contracted by 5% at the time.