Centrica chair resigns

British Gas owner Centrica is on the look out for a new chairman.

the company announced that rick haythornthwaite is leaving after four years in the job and will step down within the next 12 months.

haythornthwaite, who has worked for BP and was chief executive of global technology firm invensys, will stay on until his replacement has been appointed. the 61-year-old will have served on the board for more than five years by the time he steps down, having become a non-executive director in October 2013 and chairman in January 2014.

‘Chairing Centrica has been a real privilege,’ he said. ‘the group has made material progress against a challenging external environment.’