Serica Energy PLC on Tuesday said Chief Financial Officer Andy Bell will step down in the new year, naming Martin Copeland, a energy advisory firm Kirk Lovegrove & Co Ltd principal, as his successor.

The UK North Sea-focused oil and gas company said Copeland has worked in oil and gas financing and advisory roles across a number of investment banks for more than 30 years.

This includes advising Premier Oil PLC on their reverse takeover by Chrysaor Holdings Ltd to create Harbour Energy PLC, advising JX Nippon Mining & Metals Corp on the sale of their UKCS business to Neo Energy Metals PLC and advising Tailwind Energy Chinook Ltd on their sale to Serica.

‘I want to pay tribute to Andy’s achievements in the nearly 20 years he has been with Serica, initially as a consultant and, since the signature of the Bruce, Keith and Rhum acquisitions, as [vice president for] Finance and then CFO...I also want to thank him enormously for agreeing to stay on to provide support during the CFO transition and to complete the work of creating an integrated finance function following Serica’s acquisition of Tailwind,’ said Serica Chief Executive Officer Mitch Flegg.

‘In Martin, we have secured a hugely capable successor to Andy who is well known to many of us from his years as an advisor. With his banking industry and advisory experience, Martin brings the full range of financial capabilities and relevant market knowledge to help Serica navigate the challenges of the capital markets and to deliver on our strategy designed to create value for our shareholders.’

Shares in Serica Energy were down 1.3% to 215.20 pence each in London on Tuesday morning.

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