This morning Severfield announced Cochrane would be leaving the firm at the end of September to pursue other interests.

His role as COO will not be replaced with his duties re-assigned to other executive directors and members of the senior leadership team.

Kevin Whiteman, non-executive chairman, said: “We would like to thank Ian for his contribution to Severfield.

“Ian has been a member of the board of directors of the company since 2013 and has been with the group since 2007.

“He has overseen a number of important initiatives and contributed significantly to the profitable growth of the group in recent years.”

Cochrane joined Severfield in 2007, following the acquisition of Fisher Engineering.