Bob Holt, 63, bought Mears in 1996 for £50,000 and then floated it on the stock exchange. He was both chairman and chief executive until 2010, but then brought in David Miles as chief executive and took the role of chairman.
Now a German shareholder wants him gone.
Mears Group received a letter on 4th July from a shareholder requisitioning a general meeting of shareholders. The board said: “Mears has been informed that the shareholder holds approximately 8.9% of the paid up capital of the company, the shares being beneficially owned by Frankfurter Aktienfonds fur Stiftungen, a fund advised by Shareholder Value Management AG
“The requisition proposes two resolutions. Firstly, that Bob Holt be removed from the board of directors of the company and secondly, that an alternative candidate be appointed as non-executive director.”
In accordance with the Companies Act 2006, a meeting will be called within the next 21 days and the matter put to a vote.
Mears suffered a dip in 2017, partially due to local authority maintenance budgets being diverted after the Grenfell Tower fire. Group revenue was down 4% to £900.2m (2016: £940.1m) and pre-tax profit on continuing activities was down 7% to £37.1m (2016: £40.1m).
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