Glenvarigill chief executive and managing director Tim Bartlett has quit the Scottish dealer group in a move shrouded in mystery.

AM understands that Bank Of Scotland, which took a 20% stake in the group when it backed Bartlett’s management buyout in 2002, has moved in one of its own administrators to run the business alongside finance director Kevin Lamb.

Bank of Scotland declined to comment on the changes. However, a source close to the loss-making dealer group believes the bank’s intervention may hint at an impending break-up of the business.

“I never understood why the management bought the business when they must have known it wasn’t making money. I think they’re up to their necks in it, to put it mildly,” he adds.

A Companies House check shows Glenvarigill’s latest accounts filing is overdue. The most recently available accounts, from 2003, record a £1.7m operating loss from continued operations.

Bartlett had been with Glenvarigill since 1993. Lamb is Glenvarigill’s third finance director in as many years.