Richard Pennycook
Reuters

Allan Leighton, the former head of Asda and Royal Mail who is tipped to become the Co-operative Group's first independent chairman, will donate his six-figure salary to charities linked to the company.

According to several media reports, Leighton will imminently confirm his new role at the Co-op and will give up his salary in a bid to reflect "his commitment" to turning the company around.

Co-op declined to comment and has yet to announce who will be taking over as chairman at the group.

The Co-op Bank is one of UK's smallest lenders with 6.5 million customers and a 1.5% share of the current account market. However, it is a household name in Britain, as the wider group includes supermarkets, funeral services and pharmacies.

The ethical company has overhauled its management structure after a £1.5bn (€1.8bn, $2.4bn) capital black hole emerged on its book's.

Scandals and black holes

Allan Leighton in 2008
Allan Leighton in 2008 Reuters

On 30 April, Christopher Kelly, the man who led independent review into the embattled Co-op Bank's finances said the state of the firm was a "sorry story of failings in management and governance on many levels".

On 7 May, Lord Myners, the independent reviewer in charge of analysing and helping overhaul the Co-op Group, its board was "manifestly dysfunctional" and called for it to be dismantled.

He also only took a token £1 as payment for his work.

In tandem with the group's troubles, Paul Flowers, a Methodist minister who chaired the bank, was charged with drug offences. He quit the chairmanship after allegations of drug-taking were made by a newspaper.

"The deficient composition of Co-op Bank's governance was embodied in Paul Flowers, who lacked any of the requisite financial services experience to act as chairman of a bank," said the Treasury Committee.

Meanwhile, Stuart Ramsay, a director at Co-op Group, stepped down from his position, after an internal investigation revealed that he was leaking sensitive information about the organisation.

Co-op board member and Labour councillor Munir Malik also left the firm amid the embattled company launching an internal investigation into qualification claims when he sought re-election to the board.

Various leaders have quit, including the group's overall boss Euan Sutherland after just ten months in the job.