Former Stobart boss Tinkler denies £5m expenses were claimed improperly
Former Stobart Group chief executive Andrew Tinkler today denied accusations he improperly claimed £5m in expenses when he was head of the infrastructure firm.
In the first day of a High Court trial centring on whether Tinkler was unfairly dismissed, lawyers for Tinkler said the claim that he breached his duties in claiming £5m of “so-called” expenses “should never have been brought”.
Lawyers for Stobart allege Tinkler’s expenses were not properly incurred and included money spent on helicopter transport, jet transport, the sponsorship and branding of horse races, the use of a horse box and the use of a company Range Rover and Soho Square flat by his daughter.
Tinkler’s lawyers said the expenses claims were “introduced as part of the campaign against Mr Tinkler to give an excuse to splash lurid headlines across the newspapers”.
Stobart claims Tinkler led an unsuccessful campaign against the company in a bid to topple chairman Iain Ferguson in July.
Tinkler supported Edinburgh Woollen Mill chair Philip Day for the role of chair, but he was narrowly defeated by Ferguson in a shareholder vote
Ferguson appeared as a witness today where he was cross-examined by Tinkler’s lawyers on the decision to transfer 3m treasury shares into the employee benefits trust, which were then used by an independent trustee to vote for his retention as chair at the expense of Day.
Lawyers for Tinkler characterised the move as part of a scheme to keep Ferguson on the board, but Ferguson struck back, arguing his aim was to “keep the whole board operating as a unit to the interests of all shareholders”.
The trial is expected to last for two weeks.