OIL and gas entrepreneur Algy Cluff is stepping down as chief executive of North Sea-focused Cluff Natural Resources but will remain chairman of the firm.

Mr Cluff, 77, wants to commit time to other interests, including the launch of a new charity.

Finance director Graham Swindells will become chief executive of Cluff Natural Resources on 28 February.

Mr Cluff founded the firm that discovered the giant Buchan oil field in the North Sea in 1975. He started CNR in 2012.