THE man who helped luxury yacht builder and major Poole employer Sunseeker International return to profit will leave the firm next month.

The Chinese-owned company announced on Thursday that chief executive Phil Popham was moving on "pursue other challenges and opportunities" at the end of September.

Mr Popham said he was proud "to have played a part in the turnaround of this fabulous brand" and was now seeking "a fresh challenge", but has declined to go into further detail on his reasons for leaving the growing company. Speaking to the Echo in July, Mr Popham had outlined the strategy for the firm's future growth, including plans to "hedge against risk by becoming a truly global brand".

He said: "Where we’ve depended on the Mediterranean countries in the past, we’ve really focused on the US. A third of our business is in America. Less than 50 per cent is in the Mediterranean. We’ve really focused on the Asia Pacific region.

“The more countries you’re selling in, the more you naturally hedge against that."

Beijing-headquartered Dalian Wanda Group acquired a majority stake in the business in 2013, and it was they who appointed Mr Popham as chief executive in 2015.

The boatbuilder had shed around 300 administrative and managerial jobs at the end of 2014 and made a loss of £41 million.

However under Mr Popham's leadership its fortunes were turned around.

Retained profit, which stood at £29,000 in 2016, reached £1.1m last year.

In July, Mr Popham said: "We turned this business around. We’ve taken it back to profitability, now we intend to grow.

Addressing the revenue rise, he added: “It keeps us as Britain’s biggest boat builder, something we’re proud of, and we intend on keeping that position.”

The 74 Super Yacht is due to be revealed at this Autumn’s boat shows, where other new models will also be announced, following in the wake of the Predator 50 and 74 models unveiled earlier this year. Since 2015, Sunseeker International’s revenue has risen 50 per cent, the number of boats built is up 30 per cent and staff numbers are up 25 per cent to more than 2,500.

The firm says its factories are at capacity, with boats sold out for 2018 and 50 per cent sold for 2019.