Sir Hossein Yassaie, the chief executive of Imagination Technologies, the company that owns digital radio brand Pure, has stepped down with immediate effect.
Andrew Heath, one of Imagination’s non-executive directors, has been appointed as interim chief executive.
The Imagination Technologies group has also issued a trading update, in which it said it expected to report a pre-tax loss for the financial year to April 30.
Last month, the group announced that it was “reviewing its strategic options” for the Pure consumer electronics business.
In a statement issued today (February 8), Imagination said it would be announcing details on restructuring initiatives. These will include the sale of Pure.
It hopes to reduce the total operating costs of its ongoing businesses by £15 million in the next financial year, which ends in April 2017.
In a report in The Sunday Times, (January 24), the newspaper claimed that Imagination was set to embark on a radical cost-cutting programme, including the sale of Pure and its headquarters in Kings Langley, Hertfordshire.
Last month, the company issued a profit warning, following its half-year results, which Sir Hossein (pictured) described as “disappointing”.
Speaking exclusively to ERT last year, when asked whether it had been a challenge to change the perception of Pure as a ‘traditional’ digital radio brand into an audio one, Sir Hossein said: “Whenever a brand tries to do something that’s outside of its original area, it’s always difficult.”
Sir Hossein joined Imagination in 1992 as chief technology officer. He was appointed as CEO in 1998 and was knighted in the 2013 New Year’s Honours List.
