Resolution GC quits in wake of Pearl takeover

Resolution general counsel Randal Barker has left the company following its takeover by Pearl Group.

Barker, ;who ;joined ­Resolution as its first head of legal in 2005, is ­understood to be mulling a new role, while Pearl is expected to appoint a new legal chief in October.

Sources close to Pearl said Barker left the enlarged company because the focus of the legal team had shifted now that the business is no longer a listed company.

Resolution had been a member of the FTSE100 until it was taken over by ­private company Pearl ­following a hotly contested deal that saw Friends ­Provident and Standard Life miss out on a union with Resolution.

The source said: “Randal left because the job changed. Resolution was a quoted company, so he was doing a lot of company secretary work. Now the legal work is focused on running a life group.”

Barker’s deputy Phil Hagan remains with Pearl, as does Pearl’s pre-takeover head of legal Jamie McLeod.