Jonathan Warburton has stepped down from his role as non-executive director at beverage firm AG Barr.

The chairman and chief executive of the family-run plant bread manufacturing firm announced earlier this week that he would be leaving his position at the company, which makes such drink products as Irn-Bru.

A statement, published by AG Barr, said: “Jonathan Warburton is stepping down from the board, with immediate effect, to cut back on his outside responsibilities to focus more on his role at Warburtons.”

Warburtons announced in June that its profits declined by 37% to £16.3m in 2011, for the 12-month period ending 24 September 2011, despite the company’s turnover increasing to £495m (£492m in 2010). It attributed the drop in profits to the restructuring of its bakery operations.

In the same month, Robert Higginson, Warburtons’ managing director, decided to step down from his role after working with the business for 11 years. As a result of the move, Jonathan Warburton took on the role while the firm began the recruitment process to find a suitable candidate.