The Monarch Group has announced a number of senior management changes, with executive chairman Iain Rawlinson stepping down after five years with the company.
Sir Roy McNulty, currently a non-executive director, will assume the role of group chairman, while Andrew Swaffield, current managing director of Monarch Airlines, will become group chief executive.
Andrew Lavery has been appointed chief financial officer.
The management announcement comes after speculation about the group’s finances, with weekend reports suggesting an outside investor was being sought, and previous stories suggesting Monarch was in talks with its owner, the Switzerland-based Mantegazza family, over a £60 million cash injection. The group declined to comment on either report.
Any additional investment would be the third such refinancing since 2009, when £45 million was pumped into the travel group followed by a further £75 million in 2011.
The refinancing speculation has been linked to Monarch’s £1.75 billion aircraft order announced recently and reports of weak trading in the short-haul leisure travel sector in the UK.
It also comes after “fast-growing” Monarch was cited as a potential threat to the no-frills carriers and to the big two charter operators Thomas Cook and Tui Travel in a report by finance giant HSBC.
McNulty said: “On behalf of the Mantegazza family, the group’s principal shareholder, I would like to thank Iain for his five years of service to Monarch where he has strengthened the group and repositioned Monarch Airlines as a differentiated scheduled low-cost carrier with a focus on superior customer service. He leaves with our best wishes.”
Rawlinson added: “The Monarch Group has reached another chapter in its development and the time is now right for me to stand back. There could be no two better people than Sir Roy and Andrew Swaffield, both with exceptional careers in the aviation and transport industries, to take Monarch forward and build on the excellent Monarch name and reputation.”
Swaffield said: “This is a challenging time for airlines and we have much to do. Monarch has outstanding people, a strongly differentiated position in the budget airline market and an excellent travel group and engineering business.
“I look forward to working with my colleagues to realise all the opportunities ahead of us. As a priority, along with our work on a new fleet of aircraft, we are currently engaged with our shareholder in a close look at our capital structure to ensure we have the most appropriate base to support future growth.”