Chief executive leaves embattled Rowan Dartington

Rowan Dartington chief executive David Couch (pictured) has left the company, Citywire can reveal.

Couch's departure follows a turbulent week for both the directors and the company as a whole, with the news that several founding members of the firm are no longer on the board and that the wealth manager has a £1.4 million black hole in its accounts.

However, it has since transpired that the black hole relates to a period in 2008 when Rowan Dartington had been in the process of transition to a new settlement system.

Yesterday, it was revealed Rowan Dartington's head of private clients Sarah Tobey had left the board and was serving her six month notice period. Likewise, Andrew Morris, another founding employee of Rowan Dartington, had also departed the board, though he is continuing with his duties at the company.

Couch, however, was installed by the current management at parent company Astaire and had embarked on a restructuring of the business with ambitious growth plans. He arrived to Rowan Dartington with a strong reputation in March 2009, having previously been a partner at Killik & Co.

Citywire understands the parent company management was unhappy with the origins of the current problems at Rowan Dartington and decided to make wholesale changes.

The only board member remaining at Rowan Dartington is Edward Vandyke, the consolidator who owns Evolve and Astaire Group. A spokesperson said Vandyke will be taking a more proactive approach but it was too early to say who will be driving the business going forward.