Sir James Crosby steps down as non-executive chairman at Compass Group

Sir James Crosby, the former boss of HBOS, has stepped down from his role as non-executive chairman at Compass Group.

Crosby, who has asked for his knighthood to be revoked after a scathing report by MPs found that he sowed the "seeds of destruction" at HBOS, has quit his £125,000-a-year role on the board of the contract catering giant with immediate effect.

Compass chairman Sir Roy Gardner said: "On behalf of the board, I would like to thank James for the significant contribution he has made to the bompany over the last six years."

Crosby was chief executive of HBOS until 2006 but was described as having been responsible for the bank's collapse, which led to it being rescued by Lloyds and eventually bailed out with £20b of taxpayers' money.

Yesterday, he said he was "deeply sorry" for what happened at HBOS, asking his knighthood to be taken away. He is believed to be the first person to have voluntarily offered to hand back a knighthood. Fred Goodwin, the former boss of RBS, was last year stripped off his.

Crosby also offered to hand back 30% of his £580,000-a-year pension, although he will still collect £406,000 annually in pension payments.

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