He will remain with Interserve to support incoming CEO Debbie White who joins the firm from support services group Sodexo at the start of September.

She is replacing existing chief Adrian Ringrose, who is leaving the business after 15 years.

The changes at the top come after a poor financial year which saw Interserve plunged into a £94m loss last year after making a £160m provision for exiting its waste business and troubled contracts.

This prompted the board to suspend this year’s dividend.

Interserve’s problems stemmed from being kicked off its delayed Glasgow Recycling and Renewable Energy project late last year. It has now has installed a large team to chase claims on this and other waste projects.

The Interserve board said it was undertaking a process to appoint a new group finance director and a further announcement will be made in due course.

Chairman Glyn Barker said: “I would like to thank Tim for his significant contribution over the last seven years to Interserve and wish him every success in his future ventures.”