Snowball exit closes door on IPO avenue

When Patrick Snowball was unveiled as deputy chairman of Towergate last year it was seen as something of a coup.

That such a respected big hitter had decided to turn his back on Aviva for a broking group indicated that there must be some significant substance to the Towergate success story.

As well as deputy chairman responsibilities, Mr Snowball was charged with running a new financial services arm, with the prospect of mirroring its success in the broker and managing general agent markets.

13 months on though, and the honeymoon period is well and truly over, with Mr Snowball deciding to step down from the board to pursue other opportunities.

The Towergate financial service business has barely passed the starting line and it has become abundantly clear that a listing must have been a top priority - rather than just an option as had been the official line emanating from Maidstone - given Mr Snowball's parting words.

"The plan when I joined was to build a financial services business and to help lead Towergate towards and beyond an IPO which, due to prevailing market conditions, has inevitably been delayed," he said.

Mr Snowball claims he will remain as chairman of TFS, but if offered a full-time executive post - rather than non-executive one - at a FTSE 250 company, or a large firm overseas, it would be interesting to know how he will juggle his time between the two businesses.

The Towergate bosses have been quick to downplay any significance in his decision to step down, although last year chairman Peter Cullum said: "Towergate is in the Champions League of insurance and Patrick is a world-class player. His appointment is a real coup and is a strong endorsement of our business model and future plans."

As for where this leaves the future of Towergate, we only really know that an IPO has fallen off the agenda for the foreseeable future given the fact Mr Cullum told Post in May that there is no way he could lead the company to market, and that Mr Snowball would have been the man to do that. (May, pp 20-22)

So Mr Snowball's departure may have left Towergate with a few bruises, adding to the bloody nose it picked up when Candover pulled the plug on financing talks. But it has shown resilience in the past, and the expectation must be that it will pull itself up from these setbacks to carry on toward its goal. But what that now is, only a few in the Towergate inner sanctum know for sure.

- Agree/disagree: e-mail jonathan.swift@incisivemedia.com.