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Anger at former chief's £30,000 role
Ros Snowdon LANGBAR shareholders were furious to learn yesterday that former chief executive Stuart Pearson, the man who assured them the company had £365m in assets, is to be paid a £30,000 consultancy fee.
Mr Pearson, who resigned from the board of Langbar last week, is being kept on to help with the investigations as new details come to light, but shareholders were incredulous that he would be paid for his services.
"Would it not be honourable for Pearson to offer his services for free?" said a broker representing a number of shareholders.
Nigel Smith, of the Langbar Action Group, said: "We think Stuart Pearson should clear his name and act for nothing if he wants to restore his reputation."
But it was up to the small shareholders, many of whom have lost considerable sums of money, to really vent their spleen.
"I can't believe you're going to pay him," said one. "How can you sit down and entertain this guy? He should not be given any respect at all. It is an insult to us." Mr Pearson, who has received death threats from angry shareholders, used to work as a financier at Baker Tilly in Leeds. He was invited to take over at an investment company called Crown Corporation last year as the share price was going nowhere.
Mr Pearson injected his own private interests into the business – thought to be some 2m – and changed the company's name to Langbar, a village near Ilkley.
Pearson is not suspected of being party to any fraud, but his professional reputation is now in tatters.
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Weather for Yorkshire
Wednesday 23 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 11 C to 24 C
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