Mark Silverman has left his family business, S Silverman & Son (Importers) Ltd, two years after selling it to the Timbmet Group.

Simon Fineman, Timbmet Group chief executive, said: “It is rare for the owner of a family business which is sold to another family business to play such a full role in the company afterwards, but Mark Silverman has shown considerable strength of character in continuing to develop the Silverman business during a challenging transition period.

“With many of the Silverman’s head office functions now integrated into Timbmet and with both companies operating on the same computer platform since the start of the year, there is inevitably significant impact on the management structure and responsibilities.”

He said he and Mr Silverman had discussed the situation and agreed it was a natural time to move to a different structure.

Mr Fineman has taken over the role of acting chief executive for Silverman in addition to his group responsibilites.