Fred Hsu, the former managing director of Firmin & Sons - Birmingham's oldest company - has left the business, recently rescued from administration by London-based uniform maker Kashket & Partners.
Mr Hsu had hoped to stay on with Firmin as an "ambassador" dealing with customer liaison and developing overseas business.
But a spokesman for the 329-year-old badge and armour manufacturer yesterday confirmed he had left.
London-based Kashket bought Firmin and its site in Newtown Row for an undisclosed sum last month. The deal saw Kashket's group managing director Tim Newnes replace Mr Hsu on the board. Russell Kashket, owner of Kashket, has also joined the management team.
The combined group holds six royal warrants and aims to become a "top-to-toe solution" for customers buying ceremonial uniforms.
Meanwhile, creditors have been told that debts of up to £3 million could arise from Firmin's collapse.
The news came at a creditors meeting held by joint administrator Nigel Price, of insolvency specialist Moore Stephens, at the Hotel Du Vin in Birmingham.
He revealed Firmin had not been profitable since 2000 and was in the red to the tune of £420,000 - despite its best sales performance for years of £3.4 million.
Mr Price said that if all the claims on the company "came home to roost" a total of £2,965,000 would be owed. Of that, a £2 million liability had been pencilled in for the employee final salary pension scheme, closed to new entrants some years ago.
He said: "Most recent projections on the degree of underfunding is somewhere between £1 million to £2 million.
"It is being dealt with by the Pensions Regulator and they will decide on the manner in which that scheme will be brought to a conclusion.
"I am taking the most pess imistic view of up to £2 million as a maximum figure."
A report to creditors showed that the sale of the company to Kashket raised £775,000, including £600,000 for New-town Row.
About £200,000 was available to the unsecured creditors before the costs of the a dministration, so far £72,000, with a further £231,000 possible from the sale of stock from Firmin's Statton subsidiary.
