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Ralph Hilton wants £60,000 compensation
Page 19
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• Mr Ralph Hilton, former chairman of Ralph Hilton Transport Services Ltd, has made application to the board of the company for £60,000 compensation. The new chairman, Mr J. McNaughton, told shareholders this at the company's annual general meeting in London on Tuesday (as recorded in CM April 6, Mr Hilton was invited by the board on April 2 to resign.)
Two other former directors have, it was revealed, received compensation in lieu of unexpired contract — Mr T. W. Hodge (£2000) and Mr D. 2. Scarfe (£2500); both figures were said to be approximate.
Mr McNaughton said that Mr Hilton's application was being considered by the board. Less than 100 of the company's shareholders attended the meeting, which was considering the directors' and auditors' reports for the year ended July 29 1972. The reports were adopted, with less than 20 shareholders actually voting.
The tenor of the meeting was in a low key and the report went almost unquestioned. However, Mr R. Cropper called on the shareholders to form a committee with the directors to examine in detail the "tragic history" and plan the future. Counsel for the company ruled that the meeting was not competent to deal with such a matter, but the chairman assured the meeting that the proposal would be examined. Mr Cropper (who is managing director of his own company, Conquers Transport, and Transport Counsellors) volunteered his services to the board.
The chairman assured another shareholder and former director, Mr T. W. Hodge, that the company's situation had not worsened since the report had been published (CM April 27 and May 11). He declined to enlarge on his published statement, saying: "It would not be in the best interests of individuals or the company to do so."
Referring to the accounts, Mr McNaughton said that the loans made to two directors, totalling £15,618, had been made in error and had now been repaid. He also said that the board had been advised not to probe the past publicly. He added that it was easy to be wise in hindsight but the truth of the matter of the company's troubles stemmed from explosive and uncontrolled growth. "We are now consolidating and this should be completed within a few short months," he said. He promised shareholders that planned expansion would then take place but he hinted that diversification might be in areas unconnected with transport and warehousing.