Shares bonanza for Begbies’ execs

THREE senior directors at Manchester accountancy group Begbies Traynor have been given bumper share options.

Mark Fry, head of the insolvency arm – which handles most of the firm’s business, has been awarded one million shares which are worth £366,000 at the option price of 36.69p.

Finance director Nick Taylor has received half that amount, worth £183,000, and company secretary John Humphrey has been granted 200,000 with a value of £73,200.

A further 1.1 million shares have been granted to other selected senior staff at the same option price.

Half of the total awards granted to each individual vest immediately but may only be exercised after three years, provided that the beneficiary is still with the group. The other half can only be cashed in if the company hits certain performance targets. The options, if exercised in full, represent around 3% of the group’s issued share capital.

Begbies, which has a national network of offices, has a market value of £33.8m, based on Friday’s closing share price of 37.5p.