Andy Lister, MD of Grass Roots Group's Tring operation, has left the company over “differing views on strategy.”

An internal memorandum was circulated last week announcing his departure. No official statement has been issued by the company but chief executive David Evans said: “It is about differing views on strategy.”

His departure coincided with the filing of Grass Roots Group UK Ltd’s annual trading results for the year ending December 2011 showing pre-tax profits of £7.1m. While a direct comparison with previous years is complex because of an 18-month financial year in 2010, gross profit margins were down and the dividend was reduced from £10m in the previous year to £5m in these accounts.

Lister’s departure follows other high profile Grass Roots departures in the past year, including Nick Bender, Debbie Donaldson, Simon Maier and Amanda Litzow, while three other high-profile employees, Amanda Stranack, Paul Nicholls and Karen Brock were made redundant. Grass Roots employs approximately 1,000 people in 26 offices in 15 countries and delivers services from communications to education, measurement to rewards and events.

Pictured: David Evans