NFC chairmen in row
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by Amanda Bradbury • A slanging match between NFC's current and past chairmen over treatment of the company's employees was played out in front of 1,100 shareholders last week.
The row broke as it was revealed that the group's recent rights issue will dilute employee equity share down to 13.9%. This compares to a 30% employee shareholding in the company after it was floated in 1989.
The appreciative audience heard past NFC chairman Sir Peter Thompson attack his successor James Watson for ignoring the "traditional" values of the company: employee consultation and participation.
Thompson asked why shareholders had not been asked whether they wanted to go ahead with the issue; and talked of "elitist" executive share options.
Watson denied the charge and said shareholders were not consulted over the share issue because of a need to keep share prices firm.
Recently appointed chief executive Peter Sherlock (right) talked of looking forward to the "continuing evolution of NFC's culture".
Sherlock said the group's aims were to make the best use of physical assets and people and encourage employees to exceed their own and customers expectations.
U The row has torpedoed NFC's executives' quest for positive publicity in the wake of what it calls damaging claims in the press about parcels subsidiary Lynx. The board partly attributes this press to reduced sales at Lynx since the start of the year, although its losses are lower than at the same time last year. In the year ending 2 October 1993 Lynx lost £10.1m on a £73.5m turnover.
Exel Logistics and BRS' sales are up 5% in the first 12 weeks of the year.
El Exel is recruiting around 35 drivers for a frozen-food depot near Heathrow which will replace an existing site it operates for Safeway 35 miles away. The division says that around 34 drivers who will lose their jobs when the Elstree depot closes at the end of March, will be offered jobs at the new depot in Colnbrook.