Peter Wood, the multi-millionaire founder of car insurance provider Esure, has stepped back into the breach and taken over the role of company chief executive after the shock departure of Peter Graham.
Mr Graham had run the business for the last five years and his exit was unexplained and came out of the blue. Only months ago he had been instrumental in the creation of Sheilas' Wheels, the company's woman car insurance brand that is intended to replicate the success of Admiral's Diamond car insurance for women provider.
Staff at Esure, which is owned by the banking giant, HBOS, only discovered their boss had left when an internal memo was circulated at the beginning of last week. It stated that Mr Wood was assuming Mr Graham's responsibilities and would handle the day-to-day running of the motor insurance firm.
The memo also left some employees fearing for their future after it was revealed that the company would be reorganised, with a "number of high-level management changes" taking place, a closer integration with sister companies and the loss of a currently unspecified number of jobs.
An Esure spokesman denied the changes were the result of financial difficulties, but admitted the car insurance industry was going through some difficult times. He also refused to comment on the reasons for Mr Graham's departure and would not discuss a possible pay-off figure.