LQM Petroleum Services said it will close its London office and remove chief executive Daniel Rose, scaling down its business amid strong industry headwinds during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The subsidiary of Danish conglomerate Bunker Holding established the office in the City of London in late 2019 to offer credits to the marine-fuel industry.
At that time, it hired Rose — a former chief commercial officer at OceanConnect Marine — as chief executive to spearhead the operation.
But the office will be closed at the end of January, and TradeWinds understands that the London employees will be made redundant.
“The past year has brought both unforeseen and unprecedented challenges to the entire industry,” Bunker Holding chief commercial officer Christoffer Lassen said in a statement.
“To ensure we remain agile and keep a competitive edge, we are continuously scaling and optimising all aspects of our business.
“Consequently, we must know when it is the right time to scale down for some of our services and activities to ensure consistent overall growth. We want to thank the employees for their commitment and contribution throughout their employment.”
According to LQM’s website, Rose, team leader Matthew Pilgrim, sales manager Neil Lamerton, junior trader and broker Alice Todd, and client liaison executive Martin Bird are based in London.
The company will keep its offices in Connecticut, Texas and Paris.
Americas managing director Jordan Felber, who is based in Connecticut, will step in to oversee LQM’s global operations.
In a statement, LQM vowed to “continue along its current growth path and deliver strong results globally”, with the Connecticut office being its “main pillar”.
Midelfart-headquartered Bunker Holding acquired LQM from founders Gerry and Barbara Van Geyzel in 2015, when the brokerage had six offices across the globe.
Keld Demant, group chief executive of Bunker Holding, said then that the move would help the conglomerate diversify beyond trading.
Following the acquisition, Marisa Femenia, daughter of the founders, was appointed as LQM’s chief executive before leaving the company for a senior position at Bain Capital in 2017.
LQM, which had been a pure brokerage under Van Geyzel, has developed a hybrid broker-trader business model over the years.
