WH Ireland bars the Press amid dust-up
Small-cap broker WH Ireland today banned the Press from its annual meeting as it attempted to keep coverage of a stinging boardroom bust-up to a minimum.
The firm suspended senior directors Laurie Beevers and David Youngman a few days ago after an unseemly row.
The pair had indicated they would vote against several resolutions being put to shareholders, including the re-election of chairman Rupert Lowe and chief executive Richard Ford.
In response, the broker suspended both men, whose future at a company they helped to build now seems highly uncertain.
The Manchester-based group, which has influential City PR man Roland Rudd as a director, barred journalists from covering the meeting.
A bland statement to the Stock Exchange said the key resolutions had been passed.WH Ireland, which just saw a merger deal with Blue Oar Securities unravel at the last minute, had a loss of £4 million last year.
Ford earlier declined to discuss details of the fallout with Beevers and Youngman, stalwarts of the smaller stockbroking scene.
