Stobart board urges shareholders to resist Tinkler appointment bid
The board of Stobart Group have urged shareholders to resist any attempt by former director Andrew Tinkler to stand for appointment at its forthcoming annual general meeting this week.
Mr Tinkler has indicated that he will propose himself for election at the meeting in Guernsey this Friday.
He was sacked from the board on June 14 in a row over his bid to oust current chairman Iain Ferguson and replace him with his own nominee, North West entrepreneur Philip Day, the owner of Peacocks and Edinburgh Woollen Mill.
Announcing his dismissal, the board also revealed that it will be taking legal action against the former chief executive.
In a letter to shareholders, independent director Andrew Wood explained the board’s decision, saying Mr Tinkler’s actions ran totally counter to the firm’s management strategy.
He wrote: “It is his right as a shareholder to propose a change.
“However, his wider actions, particularly in writing to all employees, have now threatened to destabilise the company and have put at risk the interests of all shareholders.”
Today, Carlisle-based Stobart issued a statement revealing that Mr Tinkler served notice, on June 28, that he intends to propose himself for election to the board at Friday’s AGM.
The company’s latest statement continued: “For the reasons set out in the company’s announcements of 14th and 15th June 2018, the board considers, were a resolution to appoint Mr Tinkler as a director to be proposed, that its passing would not be in the best interests of the company and shareholders as a whole.”
And it insisted: “Accordingly, the board recommends that the shareholders vote against any resolution to appoint Mr Tinkler as a director, if proposed at the Annual General Meeting.”
In the latest twist to the Stobart saga, popstar Ronan Keating stepped in to make an unexpected contribution to the very public row over the weekend.
The former Boyzone singer has thrown his weight behind Mr Tinkler, who he described as a friend.
Keating’s unexpected declaration of support followed a statement by William Stobart, the son of the founder of the trucking empire, criticising Ferguson and the chief executive, Warwick Brady, for their ‘vindictive campaign’ against Tinkler.
