Jacob Kurian, chief operating officer (jewellery) of Tanishq has quit the company. Kurian who is known as the turnaround man of Tanshiq resigned on Thursday and will be moving to role unrelated to the jewellery business.

"After having accomplished his task, he has moved ahead to fulfill his personal goals and aspirations," Bhaskar Bhatt, CEO of Tanshiq wrote to employees in an e-mail on Thursday.

• How Tanishq turned around

Kurian will be joining as the head of a  startup in Hyderabad which operates in the educational segment. The startup is the India venture of an international company and will focus on graduate education in areas such as engineering, life sciences, et cetera.

As the COO of Tanishq, Kurian brought about a dramatic change in the company's fortunes.

A few weeks ago, he proudly announced that after five years of consistent losses, the company has finally cemented a dramatic three-year turnaround culminating in annual sales growth of 39 per cent and profit growth of 318 per cent.

As a company, Tanishq has had a chequered past. Three years ago, six of the top company executives quit to form a new venture of their own, Oyzterbay.

In 2000, Vasant Nangia, who was also the chief operating officer, resigned to be followed by swift resignations of the top sales and marketing executives.

This time around, Tanishq officials assure that there will be no such problems.

"What happened three years ago cannot be compared with the situation now. Jacob is resigning to go to a completely unrelated venture. Sometimes people leave when they have done their best and want to do something that is personally satisfying. Education is such a segment which is why Jacob has chosen to go," says Manoj Chakravarti, general manager, corporate affairs.

Tanishq has not yet decided who will fill Kurian's shoes. For now, Bhaskar Bhatt will be the CEO and the COO of the company.