Cross recruits more of his old Dana team for Parkmead

OIL mogul Tom Cross, who made a multi-million pound fortune by selling Aberdeen-based Dana Petroleum, has returned to his former company to poach a clutch of key executives for his new investment vehicle.

Shares in Parkmead - one of the most hotly-traded on the stock market - rose by 13.5 per cent to 23.12p after executive chairman Cross said the recruitment of the four ex-Dana staff meant the firm now had "an exceptional platform for growth".

The latest recruits are Dr Colin Percival, who will be group exploration manager, Shona Kiloh, who becomes chief economist, Julie Forsyth who takes on the role of group legal manager and Kathryn Ramsay who will be in charge of business development and investor relations.

Cross said: "We have a highly experienced, motivated and focused team, who share a proven track record of creating value for shareholders."

Philip Dayer and Iain Rawlinson, who were non-executive directors at Dana before its sale to the Korea National Oil Corporation, joined the Parkmead board in December.

Cross added that the Parkmead team was "working on a number of identified growth opportunities". Cross has previously signalled his ambitions to replicate his success at Dana by transforming Parkmead from an investment and advisory business to one with significant exploration and production interests.

Investors have sent shares in Parkmead up by 600 per cent since Cross was appointed chairman last October. He turned an initial 1 million investment in Dana into a 1.8 billion company when it was sold and there are hopes he can repeat the exercise.