Business

Chief financial officer is latest top exec to jump ship from Harland & Wolff

Arun Raman resigns with immediate effect, following other senior executives in leaving Belfast shipyard business

H&W chief financial officer Arun Raman
H&W chief financial officer Arun Raman

Chief financial officer Arun Raman has become the latest senior executive to jump ship from Harland & Wolff.

In a one-line statement to the London stock market, the company confirmed that Mr Raman “has resigned with immediate effect”.

It comes after the beleaguered firm, which famously built the Titanic, warned in August that it would not be able to finalise its financials for 2023 on a going concern basis and had suspended work to complete its accounts as it sought options to stay afloat.

And his departure follows that of chief executive John Wood at the end of July, followed by H&W’s non-executive chairman and two other non-executive directors.

Malcolm Groat, Sir Jonathon Band and Katya Zotova all handed in their notices on August 14.

In August the Irish News revealed that CEO John Wood and Arun Raman, chief financial officer, were both paid more than half a million in bonuses in the seven months after Belfast shipyard was purchased for £5.25 million in late 2019.



Mr Wood was paid £448,000 in wages for the year ending July 2020, while Mr Raman was paid £390,000, according to accounts filed by InfraStrata, the company that took over H&W.

They also received bonuses of £554,000 and £519,000 respectively.

In September 2021, InfraStrata, which was listed on the London’s alternative investment market (AIM) stock exchange, changed its trade name to Harland & Wolff Group Holdings plc.

Over the near five years since the take over, the company across its operations in the north and Britain has substantially increased the number of employees and secured several potentially lucrative contacts.

But up front costs linked to attempting to build up the business and fulfil orders has led also to increasing losses, totalling £113m across 2022 and 2023.

The company was unable to secure UK government guarantees backing £200m in loans in event of defaults, with the UK’s Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds stating there was “a very substantial risk that taxpayer money would be lost”.

In response, Harland & Wolff entered into talks with Riverstone for an emergency loan.