Trustpilot Group, the online reviews platform, has kicked off a search for a new chairman little more than a year after listing on the London stock market.
Sky News has learnt that the company has appointed headhunters from The Up Group to identify a successor to Tim Weller, the respected entrepreneur.
Mr Weller, who also chairs a string of privately owned companies, has been at the helm of Danish-based Trustpilot for a decade.
His planned departure comes amid a rout in listed technology stocks.
Since floating at 260p-a-share in March 2021, Trustpilot’s stock has fallen to just 81.25p, giving the company a market capitalisation of about £340m.
Nevertheless, a number of shareholders are said to have expressed opposition to Mr Weller’s departure, arguing that it reinforces flaws in corporate governance guidelines which state that non-executive directors cease to be independent when they have served for nine years.
Some institutions say the clock should be reset once a company becomes publicly traded.
The search for Mr Weller’s successor is being led by Angela Seymour-Jackson, the senior independent director, who has also served on boards including Future, the magazines publisher.
Many investors believe the share price declines at listed tech companies have left them vulnerable to takeover approaches, although broader economic uncertainty and concerns that earlier valuations were inflated mean few such bids have materialised.
