IAN McAllister, the chairman and managing director of Ford of Britain, is to retire at the end of February and his role will be shared between two new chiefs, the firm has announced.

Roger Putnam, sales and marketing director for Jaguar, will take over as chairman, while Paul Thomas, sales director, becomes managing director.

The roles are now being split to reflect the additional demands placed on the chairman's role in recent years, the company said.

McAllister's departure will end 38 years of service at the company, which began in 1964 when he joined as a trainee finance graduate. In December, he was appointed chairman of the team preparing a bid to take over Railtrack's role as operator of the rail network.