According to a statement, Pullen tendered his resignation but will continue in his role during his notice period to ease the succession process and maintain continuity for the business.

Speaking to Recruiter, Pullen revealed his decision to step down was for entirely personal reasons after a challenging year. Early last year the group identified accounting errors in its 2018 results and last month disclosed that it expects full-year 2019 profits to be materially below previous predictions.

“Last year was a challenging year for the business, with historical issues to fix and a challenging trading environment. I am pleased to say that the business is now very well set up for future growth with a market-leading digital proposition. This will ensure that despite a tight labour market we are perfectly set up to fulfil our customers’ needs, supporting the reason that Staffline exists, which is to help make our customers more successful. We will have a planned transition once the suitable successor is found. In the meantime, it’s very much business as usual.”

The firm’s board, who revealed it plans to launch a formal executive search process to identify a new CEO immediately, added its 2020 outlook remains unchanged and in line with market expectations.

Staffline added it remains in constructive dialogue with its lenders and expects to reach agreement with respect to revised terms that will remove the risk of covenant issues and ensure that the company retains sufficient liquidity headroom. The group’s net debt position at 31 December 2019 is expected to be £60m, which remains subject to audit.

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