Charles Peel, the broker who co-founded Peel Hunt, is stepping down as chief executive in favour of Tim Cockroft, 36, who has worked at the firm since it opened as an independent broker in 1989.

In their best stock-market coup, Peel and Christopher Holdsworth Hunt, his co-founder, sold their business in December 2000 at the top of the market to KBC, the Belgian bank, for £260m (€370m).