Sesame Bankhall Group’s CEO George Higginson is leaving after three years with the group, along with finance director Paul Hooper, who has held this position for four years.

Sesame Bankhall Group (SBG) has announced a new structure for the business with expanded roles for chairman John Cowan and managing director Stephen Gazard.

In addition, Jim Kelly has been appointed as finance director. He has 30 years industry experience and has held senior roles with Lloyds Abbey Life, RBS and Aviva.

Higginson (pictured) said: “I am proud to have contributed to SBG’s successful transformation into a broad based financial services group and I feel it is now the right time for me to seek a new challenge.

“SBG has a range of exciting new propositions for advisers and a strong team in place to help drive the business forward.”

Cowan continues to lead the SBG Board. He has over 40 years’ experience in financial services and joined the group in 2009 as an independent non-executive director. John became SBG chairman in 2013. He previously held senior roles at Prudential, Scottish Amicable and National Australia Bank.

Gazard joined SBG 12 months ago as distribution director and became managing director in June 2013. Stephen will now report into John Cowan and will take on a wider remit, with responsibility for leading the executive team. Pan Andreas and John Cupis will continue to work alongside Stephen to lead the wealth management and mortgage businesses within the group, also reporting to John Cowan.

Cowan said: “SBG has successfully evolved into a leading financial services group that is well positioned for the future. We have worked hard to continually improve the value we offer to advisers to help them deliver and evidence quality outcomes for customers. This includes significant investments in our technology and compliance infrastructure, which are now paying dividends.

“We continue to receive excellent support from our members, which we never take for granted. I am looking forward to working closely with Stephen Gazard and our strong management team as we deliver on our long-term strategy to help advisers build successful and sustainable businesses.”