Author: Jonathan Symcox

We reported this morning that Sara Murray OBE was part of a group of shareholders seeking to oust the chairman of Big Technologies plc, the firm she founded and with whom she is embroiled in a £320m High Court battle.

Murray has now provided a statement to BusinessCloud which claims the board held back this morning’s announcement by a week.

“I think the shareholders are absolutely right to believe that the sooner Alexander Brennan steps down and James Matheson takes over, the better it will be for everyone,” she said, adding: “Given the damage he has done to the business, this is not a moment too soon. I have every confidence that James Matheson will be an excellent independent new chairman and will quickly start to turn the company around.”

Investor Andrew Richer, a former Assistant Chief Constable of Bedfordshire Police, said: “I, and a number of other small shareholders, have been asking a series of pertinent questions of the current board as to why they have taken certain actions which we regard as contrary to shareholders’ interests. Answers have either been unsatisfactory or not forthcoming. As a result, we came to the conclusion that a board change was necessary, and on enquiry, it became clear that the majority of shareholders concurred with that view.

“Accordingly, we approached the board of BIG with a request that the views of shareholders be acted upon and provided evidence that the majority of shareholders wished this action to be taken. For reasons which are unfathomable to me, the board appear to be resisting the reasonable request of a majority of the owners of the company.

“It appears that the board have forgotten for whom they work.”