Athelney Trust – All change please!
Little Athelney Trust announced the results of its EGM, earlier this week, and they make for exciting reading! The three incumbent directors – Dr Emmanuel Pohl (the chairman) Simon Moore, Jemma Jackson and Jason Pohl – have all been voted off, but by the slimmest of margins! This was the result that Robin Boyle, the former managing director of the trust, had set out to achieve when he called the EGM. However, Robin has not managed to get everything that he wanted!
The EGM included a resolution seeking for Robin to be reappointed as managing director. Robin resigned suddenly on 1 October 2018, when the board refused “his request to bring about major changes in the management of the company”. Robin’s hopes for a return appear to have been dashed (at least for now); once again by the narrowest of margins (there were 914,209 votes for Robin returning, versus 961, 205 against, and no votes withheld).
The EGM also included resolutions to appoint David Lawman and Paul Coffin as directors of the trust. Both of these resolutions were approved (by slim margins) but, for reasons that are not yet apparent, Paul no longer wishes to serve on Athelney’s board. In what can only be described as a surprise move, Paul resigned on 25 January 2019. This leaves David Lawman as the sole remaining director. In addition to currently being alone on the board, David also appears to be without a fund manager, at least for now (the former chairman, Manny Pohl, took over this responsibility when Robin departed). We know that Robin wants this job back. It will be interesting to see if he can yet make a return.
With all this disruption at the helm, there is one piece of good news for shareholders who feel now might be a good time to exit (and for those who might want to top up their holding). The resolution for the proposed tender offer and placing by the company has been approved.
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