Stobart names new chairman after boardroom battle with former chief Andrew Tinkler
Stobart has chosen a new chairman to succeed the incumbent Iain Ferguson, who was at the centre of a boardroom battle last year with former chief Andrew Tinkler.
The aviation and energy giant has announced that David Shearer, a former senior partner at Deloitte in Scotland and Northern Ireland, will join the Stobart board as a non-executive director and chairman-elect on 1 June. Shearer will take over from Ferguson after the firm's AGM this year.
Andrew Wood, the current senior independent director, led the recruitment process with Russell Reynolds, a firm Stobart appointed after Ferguson announced he would stand down from his post. Wood will also step down form the board after the AGM.
Shearer is also the current non-executive chairman of rental firm Speedy Hire, as well as at Aberdeen New Dawn Investment Trust. He will stand down from the board of Aberdeen New Dawn Investment Trust at the end of its September 2019 AGM.
Ferguson said: "Stobart Group is a much-changed business since I joined six years ago, and one that is now very focused and well-positioned to deliver value to shareholders. Over the last year, we have strengthened the board, adding more expertise, and ensuring shareholders continue to have a strong independent voice."
Last year Stobart was engaged in a public row with its former chief executive Andrew Tinkler whom it accused of leading an unlawful conspiracy against the company with an unsuccessful attempt to topple Ferguson last July.
Tinkler had supported The Edinburgh Woollen Mill owner Philip Day for the role, but he was narrowly defeated in a shareholders' vote.
In February this year, Stobart claimed victory against Tinkler in a separate case, after a judge found Tinkler had acted in breach of his fiduciary duties during his campaign to oust Ferguson.
But the judge also ruled that Stobart had not managed to establish its claim against Tinkler that he had launched an unlawful conspiracy to topple its board. The judge also found that Stobart's dismissal of Tinkler was lawful.