Neil Pidgeon, head of institutional sales at broker HB Corporate, has left amid a shake-out of the firm’s institutional operations.

HB Corporate, better known as Hoodless Brennan, recruited the trenchantly spoken Pidgeon from fellow broker VSA Resources only last year, and the former army officer and mining sector specialist is reckoned to have been an effective performer. But City sources suggest market issues for the company, whose clients have included colourful veteran wheeler-dealer and sporting entrepreneur Terry Ramsden, are believed to have prompted both Pidgeon and the company to consider changes.

HB’s chairman, Andrew Baker, has not been available for comment today.

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