Topps Tiles’ major shareholder has called for the board to overhaul its senior management and strategy after what it termed a series of “costly blunders”.
MS Galleon’s managing director Piotr Lipko wrote to the tile specialist’s chair Paul Forman last week claiming “complete failure” among management to adapt to the changing retail landscape, The Times reported.
The shareholder, which holds a 29.9% stake, slammed Topps’ acquisition of CTD Tiles as “unequivocally irrational” and “highly detrimental” to the interests of the company.
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MS Galleon claimed the retailer overpaid for the deal and failed to conduct sufficient due diligence.
Topps Tiles said it had conducted “appropriate” due diligence and that CTD would significantly accelerate its growth.
The retailer’s chair Forman said in a statement on Monday (2 December): “We engage with all our larger shareholders on a regular basis and listen closely to their views. Our strategy was reviewed in April and presented to shareholders in May, with further updates given last week.
“Further expansion of our digital capabilities is at the heart of many of these growth initiatives. Our latest results show that we continue to take market share, consistently outperforming the wider tile market despite very challenging trading conditions.
“We believe this demonstrates the effectiveness of our strategy, which has the full support of the board.”
It is not the first time that MS Galleon has demanded changes to the retailer’s senior management team, after seeking to oust its former chair Darren Shapland in 2022. Shapland survived the vote but stepped down the following year.
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