Topps Tiles’ largest shareholder has reignited its row with the flooring and wall tile chain.
MS Galleon, which owns 29.9% of the chain, has demanded an overhaul of its leadership and strategy after ‘costly blunders’.
Piotr Lipko, MS Galleon md wrote to Paul Forman, Topps’ chair claiming a ‘complete failure’ among management to adapt to the changing retail landscape, according to The Times.
He complained that the £9m purchase of failed rival CTD Tiles was ‘unequivocally irrational’ and ‘highly detrimental’ to the company, insufficient due diligence had been carried out ad Tops had overpaid.
MS Galleon has previously tried to oust previous chairman Darren Shapland after the chain refused to switch its product sourcing to MS Galleon’s subsidiaries.
‘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,’ Forman replied to shareholders in a statement.
