The commercial managing director of UK-based shellfish supplier The Big Prawn Co. has left the role after 2½ years.

Allen Townsend, formerly the managing director of Iceland Seafood UK for nine years, took over as commercial director at Big Prawn in April 2019.

Prior to joining Big Prawn, Townsend also held roles with The Seafood Company and Lyons Seafood.

In a LinkedIn update on Tuesday, Townsend said he and Big Prawn "parted company," but added that "the team there remain good friends and we have brought on some interesting new retail business over the period."

The Big Prawn Co. completed a partial management buyout in December 2018.

Since then, along with Townsend joining the company in early 2019, Big Prawn hired former Pricewaterhouse Coopers employee Richard Bland to head up its finance department.

In June 2020, the company underwent a further management shake-up, which saw long-time sales executive Crag Harrison also depart.

In March 2020, the UK-based shellfish supplier warned about coronavirus and Brexit risks as profits slumped.

Over recent years, the Big Prawn Company has invested more than £5 million (€5.6 million/$6.4 million) in new facilities, including a new state-of-the-art fresh cooking plant to bolster the company’s global sourcing strategy , which now includes Southeast Asia and South America.