Hutchings ramps up attack on new team at Lupus

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Hutchings, forced out in July after Lupus breached a banking covenant, launched a fresh attack on the board now run by chief executive Keith Taylor.

It came before an extraordinary general meeting on Friday called by Hutchings in an attempt to unseat Taylor and his team and reinstate himself as chairman.

Hutchings, the millionaire entrepreneur and one-time boss of engineering conglomerate Tomkins, said: "Let's be absolutely clear. Corporate governance did not get this company into trouble under my stewardship."

He admitted that "the recession did cause trouble" along with "the effect of the exchange rates on debt", but insisted "the group was well run under me".

The former Lupus boss also hit back at David Lis, head of UK equities at Aviva Investors, which increased its stake in Lupus to 15.2% last week and said it would not back Hutchings.

Lis said: "Given the breakdown in the working relationship between Lupus and its major lenders under previous leadership, change has been, and is, from our point of view, an absolute necessity."

Hutchings replied: "David Lis was not in the boardroom, the banks have not said this and this has never been an issue."

Hutchings, who has invested £9 million in Lupus since 2004 and owns nearly 11% of the company, claims he is the best man to lead the company forward.

He has also called for the pay of the company's new directors to be published, saying: "This debate is now about being clear and transparent with shareholders and I think any board that tries to escape from that is missing the point."

It was a direct response to comments from Taylor who last week said: "This company had a pile of debt and went into default. Anybody who tries to escape that is missing the point."

Hutchings's critics claim that his personality-driven management style and unorthodox corporate governance practices — he was chairman and chief executive of Lupus — were to blame for the company's troubles.